DHARAMSALA: Minutes after India completed a 4-1 series win on Saturday afternoon in Dharamsala, the BCCI announced a Test Cricket Incentive Scheme for the senior men’s team with an aim to provide financial growth and stability to the players in the longer format.
This initiative, dated back from the 2022-23 season, includes an additional reward structure apart from the existing match fee — ₹ 15 lakh per Test for the players.
Assuming if there are nine Tests in a season, a player who features in the squad for less than four games will not get any benefits. Playing members, who feature in 5-6 Tests, will get ₹ 30 lakh per match and non-playing members will get ₹ 15 lakh per Test for the same number of games.
If a player features in more than seven games, they will get ₹ 45 lakh per Test while a non-playing member in the same category will get ₹ 22.5 lakh per match. For example, Cheteshwar Pujara, who played six games in the 2022-23 season, is expected to get ₹ 1.8 crore incentive apart from the ₹ 90 lakh which he will get as match fee. Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav, who played only four games, but was part of the squad for six in the 2022-23 season could get ₹ 1.5 crore as incentive apart from ₹ 75 lakh as match fee.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that the initiative will be beneficial players who have been part of the team in the longer format since 2022-23. “The new initiative will help players like Pujara, KS Bharat and Umesh Yadav. They are all dedicated Test players. Total outflow will be ₹ 45 crore. It will start from 2022 onwards,” Shah told reporters on Saturday.
India head coach Rahul Dravid said that it is nice that the hard work that goes into the toughest format is being recognised. “I think it is a reward, not an incentive. Looking at the guys who came in and played in this series, I think everyone wants to play Test cricket. It’s just a recognition of what you need to be able to do to survive and play in Test cricket. It’s only when you get here that you realise that sometimes it’s quite tough and it is not easy but it is extremely satisfying,” he said on Saturday.