BCCI Secretary Jay Shah Announces ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ After Rohit Sharma’s Men Demolish England 4-1

BCCI Secretary Jay Shah Announces 'Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ After Rohit Sharma’s Men Demolish England 4-1

Dharamsala: In an attempt to attract the cricketers towards Test cricket, the BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced a ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ for the senior men following India’s thumping win in the fifth and final Test against England on Saturday. India won the game by an innings and 64 runs and also pocketed the series 4-1. The win will remain special for India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, as he was playing his 100th Test match and finished with a match haul of 9/128. With this win, India also consolidate their position at the top of World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 standings with 68.5 points.

“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,” Shah posted on X, minutes after India’s win.

Shah’a announcement came in at a time when several cricketers are running after cash-rich Indian Premier League, thereby ignoring the domestic matches which in turn makes a way into the Indian Test team — Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan are the biggest examples of late.

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… pic.twitter.com/Rf86sAnmuk

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) March 9, 2024

The Indian duo, who were a part of the Men in Blue at the ODI World Cup last year at home, ignored BCCI’s diktat to play Ranji Trophy when not on national duty. As a result, the BCCI omitted both Kishan and Iyer from the Central Contracts list, thereby creating a huge buzz among the cricketing fraternity.

With this new scheme, the BCCI hopes to attract more players in the longest format of the game. With the new scheme, the BCCI hikes match fee to Rs 45 lakh from existing Rs 15 lakh per game for players who compete in seven or more Tests in one season.

For players who compete in five to six matches in a single season, the match fees rose from Rs 15 lakhs to Rs 30 lakhs. The scheme is not applicable for players who will play four games or less than that in a season.