Soon after India thrashed England in the fifth and final Test at Dharamsala to clinch the series 4-1, BCCI secretary Jay Shah dropped a happy surprise. The board, in its pursuit to make Test cricket its utmost priority, has decided to increase the players’ match fees. But in doing so, they are ensuring that players also keep giving Tests their complete attention. This step by BCCI has been taken in wake of recent episodes of alleged indiscipline shown by some cricketers including Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. 

In the last one month, speaking at different events, Shah has underlined the importance of Tests, sending a stern message to the elite cricketers to play first-class cricket when they are not representing the country in international cricket. 

Shah has walked the talk by launching the ‘Test Cricket Incentive Scheme’ under which the players who have played more than four matches in a season will be paid handsomly. 

As per this Test scheme, players who have played more than 50 percent of the Test matches in the season, say 5 or 6 Tests out of 9, will get additional Rs 30 lakh per match. Those who are not in the playing 11 but complete the before-mentioned criteria will get Rs 15 lakh per match. And if a player has played more than 75 percent of matches in a season, 7 or more Test matches in a season of 9 games, then he will get Rs 45 lakh additional fee per match while non-playing XI players will fetch Rs 22.5 lakhs per match. Not to forget, this is an additional income as all Test players will continue to get Rs 15 lakh match fees.

“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,” tweeted Shah on Saturday, March 9.

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

This move will motivate cricketers to fight for places and be more consistent. The competition for places will increase in the team and this will only benefit Team India.

BCCI’s step to promote Test cricket is being seen in a positive manner on social media. With the emergence of IPL, it was felt that youngsters were not giving red-ball cricket a priority as more income can be earned in the cash-rich league. However, by increasing the match fees the BCCI has sent a message to cricketers, senior or junior, that if they give long-format the seriousness it requires, they will be accordingly given rewards. 

BCCI has done its best here to ensure cricketers who are giving equal, if not more, importance to Tests get paid as much as they receive in IPL. In IPL, not every cricketer is earning over Rs 10 crore. The youngsters, barring a few who get sold for exorbitant prices in auction, fetch money in lakhs from the franchises. Now thanks to the Test scheme, any cricketer, whether Virat Kohli (with over 100 Tests) or Dhruv Jurel (less than 5 Tests) has the chance to earn a total of Rs 5.4 crore (Rs 45 lakh incentive + Rs 15 lakh match fees) if a season has 9 Tests and they play all of them. All of this money is besides what they get as per the BCCI central contracts.