BCCI secretary Jay Shah introduces ‘incentive scheme’ to protect and promote Test cricket in India
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has introduced a new incentive scheme to reward cricketers who will prioritise playing Test cricket.
Per the new scheme, if a cricketer plays more than 75% of Test matches in a season, he shall be rewarded with an increment of 300% in his overall match fees.
Per the latest reports, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel had recommended this incentive scheme to encourage cricketers to give importance to first-class cricket.
The BCCI secretary posted an image on his social media handle (X, previously known as Twitter), citing an example of how this scheme will work and under what circumstances the players will receive the incentive.
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As this new scheme is backdated to include the 2022-23 season, someone like Cheteshwar Pujara, who played seven of the nine contested matches (77.7%) that season, will earn INR 45 lakh per Test in addition to his match fee of INR 15 lakh per Test. For prioritising Test cricket, the BCCI will reward Pujara with a total sum of INR 4.2 crores (including incentives), as against INR 1.05 crores, which he previously earned in one season.
“I am pleased to announce the initiation of the ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ for Senior Men, a step aimed at providing financial growth and stability to our esteemed athletes. Commencing from the 2022-23 season, the ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ will serve as an additional reward structure on top of the existing match fee for Test matches, set at INR 15 lakhs,” Jay Shah wrote on a post on X.
Per the scheme, the players featuring in 50-65% of Tests in a season will earn INR 30 lakhs per Test (outside of their match fees), while those who will appear in less than 50% of the matches scheduled in a season will not be eligible to pocket extra money.
Time to choose Test over shorter formats
This scheme has come into action after the Indian board took action against two top stars – Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, for ignoring playing Ranji Trophy despite directives from the BCCI.
Following BCCI’s second warning to all centrally contracted players who are neither picked for any squad nor getting treated at the NCA for any injury, which included Ishan and Iyer, the board left them out of the central contract list for the upcoming season, punishing them for not abiding by the board’s instructions.
However, with this scheme taking centre stage, several players will be keen on pushing to play for India in the longest format as against choosing to play franchise-based T20 Leagues for extra money.
