Team India has made history and has become the first team to beat England under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum. The hosts thrashed the visitors by an innings and 64 runs in the final test in Dharamsala to win the series 4-1.
This was only the fourth instance when a team won a test series 4-1 after losing the first test. With this series win, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also given a great gift to the players who are part of the Test setup.
There is no doubt that Indian test players are among the most highly paid in the cricket world. They get paid INR 15 lakh as a match fee for one test if they are in the playing XI, while the players who are not part of the playing XI get paid INR 7.5 lakh.
However, according to the newly announced “Test Cricket Incentive Scheme” by BCCI secretary Jay Shah, these players will even get paid more. The announcement was made just after India won the final test in Dharamsala. The new scheme is beneficial for those who are regulars in the test setup.
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
In simple words, if a player is fit and ready to play in more than 50 percent of India’s tests in a year, he will get INR 30 lakh per match extra as a bonus if he is part of the playing XI. Meanwhile, players who are available but not selected to play in the XI will get 15 lakh per match.
Adding to that, if a player plays more than 75 percent of the games in one year, he will get INR 45 lakh per match extra as a bonus and INR 22.5 lakh per match if he is not selected in the playing XI. It means if players like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, Ravi Ashwin, or Ravindra Jadeja play 7 matches out of 9 in a year, they will be paid an extra INR 3.15 crore apart from the per-match salary of INR 15 lakh.
These are some serious numbers, and this move came out when some players started prioritizing leagues and other formats over test cricket. The BCCI wants to make sure that the players focus on test cricket, and they are doing everything they can.
