In the last few weeks, Indian cricket has been growing in mind, body and spirit. As India wrapped the Test series against England with a dominating 4-1 win, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) added a new term to the excitement over Bazball and Jasball—moneyball. In its bid to promote red-ball cricket, the BCCI has announced an incentive scheme for top cricketers in which those playing more than 50 percent of the total Tests in a year will get more. A cricketer’s fees could increase as much as 300 percent per Test if they feature in over 75 percent of the games played in the season. To put it in figures, if a player plays 10 Tests, he is set to take home Rs 6 crore. This is as much as a mid-level cricketer earns through Indian Premier League (IPL) contracts.
With the mushrooming of white-ball cricket leagues and international matches, most cricket boards have been trying their best to retain their top cricketers for red-ball cricket. Recently, the top South Africa players opted out of a New Zealand Test series to play in their domestic T20 league. Even in India, over the last couple of years, cricketers have been prioritising white-ball over red-ball cricket; but with such lucrative packages, BCCI might manage to woo back the players. Now that Test cricket has been taken care of, perhaps it will be prudent for the BCCI to look into red-ball domestic cricket, which can be incentivised like Tests. Increasing the pension of Ranji players could be one among the number of steps they can take.
Since the BCCI has shown intent to promote red-ball cricket, it should now focus on the World Test Championship final. India had qualified for the last finals, but could not win. One reason was the timing of the Test in England barely two weeks after the IPL. Last year’s IPL finished on May 29, and three cricketers who featured in that final—Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane—reached London only a week before the final, where they faced Australia. In contrast, some members of the Australia team had started preparing well in advance for the final. This could change this time if the BCCI can tweak the IPL schedule so that their top players get enough time to prepare. Red-ball cricket can prosper only with such initiatives.