Test Cricket Incentive: All you need to know about BCCI's red-ball scheme

Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday, March 9, 2024, announced that the senior men’s players prioritising Test cricket over any other format for India will be rewarded under the Test Cricket Incentive Scheme. 

What is the Test Cricket Incentive Scheme?

According to the Test Cricket Incentive Scheme, if a player plays more than fifty per cent of the Tests in a season for the Indian men’s cricket team, he can earn more money than the actual match fees. The Test Cricket Incentive Scheme is divided into three slabs. 

What are the different slabs of the Test Cricket Incentive Scheme?

Playing less than 50 per cent matches

The first slab is for players playing less than 50 per cent of Tests in a season. In that case, they would only earn the match fees nothing else.

Playing more than 50 per cent but less than 75 per cent of matches

If a player plays more than 50 per cent, but less than 75 per cent of total Tests in a season, he stands to take home an additional Rs 30 Lakhs per match home as an incentive. This would make the player’s match fees Rs 45 Lakh eventually. 

Playing more than 75 per cent of matches

This is the most rewarding slab which rewards a player playing more than 75 per cent of Tests in a season with Rs 45 Lakh, making his per-match fees Rs 60 Lakh. In such a case, if a player plays 10 Tests in a year, he would get to take home Rs 6 Crore, which is as handsome as a mid-range IPL contract. 

Will only playing members benefit from the Test Cricket Incentive Scheme?

No. This is the best part of the Test Cricket Incentive Scheme. Even the non-playing members of the squad will earn for prioritising Test cricket. While playing members in the more than 50 per cent but less than 75 per cent slab earned Rs 30 Lakh, a non-playing member in the same slab would earn Rs 15 Lakh. This would make the eventual per-match fees of a non-playing squad member for a Test Rs 22.5 Lakh. 

Similarly, a non-playing member who remained in the squad for more than 75 per cent of the Tests played in the season would take home Rs 22.5 Lakh, making his eventual per-match fee Rs Rs 30 Lakh. 

Test Cricket Incentive Scheme Slabs Explainer

Matches Played	Assuming 9 Tests in a Season	Playing XI Incentive (INR)	Non-Playing XI Incentive (INR)
Less than 50%	Less than 4	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
More than 50%	5 & 6	30 lakhs per match	15 lakhs per match
More than 75%	7 or more	45 lakhs per match	22.5 lakhs per match