In a testament to its commitment to prioritising Test cricket, the BCCI announced an incentive program to promote increased participation in the longest format on Saturday. The players participating in 75 per cent or more of the scheduled red-ball matches in a season will receive ₹45 lakh per game.
For instance, a Test player featuring in a potential 10 Tests within a season stands to gain an impressive ₹4.50 crore as an incentive, in addition to the regular match fee of ₹1.5 crore (15 lakh per game).
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who has time and again stressed the importance to prioritise red-ball cricket, made a strong reaction to the announcement from BCCI secretary Jay Shah. Taking to his official X, formerly Twitter, account following India’s dominant 4-1 series win over England, Rohit backed the BCCI’s move to incentivise red-ball format.
“Test cricket was & will be the ultimate format and it’s great to see @BCCI & @JayShah leading the way in prioritizing Test cricket,” Rohit wrote.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah unveiled the financial commitment from the board after India’s win in the fifth Test against England, earmarking approximately ₹45 crore for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. Emphasizing the significance of Test cricket, Shah highlighted the board’s decision to introduce the ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ aimed at bolstering the financial rewards for players participating in bilateral Test series.
“With the scheme, the players will earn even more than the IPL contract. This show IPL is important but bilateral Test cricket is also very important. The total outflow will be ₹45 crore,” said Shah during interaction with a select group of journalists in Dharamsala, as quoted by PTI.
Earlier, Team India’s head coach, Rahul Dravid, also welcomed the move from BCCI and termed it as a reward for playing the toughest format.
“Hope money is not going to be the incentive to play Test cricket. It is nice to see that it is a recognition that it is a hard format. Nice that BCCI is recognising that. It is a reward not an incentive,” Dravid said.
The decision was taken following the snub of players like Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from BCCI’s central contracts, after they remained absent from the Ranji Trophy despite the board’s diktat to prioritise red-ball cricket.
