In a move that could signal a major shift in Indian cricket, newly-elected BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has said that the board will bring in "a contract system" for first-class cricketers, and that the new finance sub-committee will be asked to put the process in place for it to happen.

"We will bring in a contract system for first-class cricketers," Ganguly told PTI in an interview. "We (office-bearers) will ask the new finance committee to prepare a contract system.

"It's just been four-five days [since he took charge] and in between there was a Diwali break. It will take about two weeks to assess everything and move forward. There is a lot of work going on."

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Even before he had been formally appointed to the position, Ganguly had said that domestic cricket, and cricketers, would be a major area of focus for him in his stint at the BCCI, which will be for a ten-month period before he serves the mandatory three-year cooling-off period for completing six consecutive years at a state association and/or at the BCCI.

"My biggest priority will be to look after first-class cricketers," he had said, adding that he had asked the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to provide financial security for domestic cricketers when the panel was put in place by the Supreme Court to supervise the BCCI. "I have been requesting that to the CoA for three years. That's the first thing I will do, look after the financial health of our first-class cricketers."

If implemented, this could change the complexion of the first-class game in the country.

The BCCI currently pays 26% of its gross revenue every year to its players; half of that is distributed among international players. How much each players gets, however, is calculated based on the number of matches they play. Which means a domestic cricketer stands to earn around Rs 25 to 30 lakh [US$ 35,350 to 42,500 approx.] depending on the matches played.