Indian Test players' fee doubled by BCCI, confirms Anurag Thakur

BCCI President Anurag Thakur announced that the Test match fees of Indian players will be doubled to make the format more financially attractive. Till now, the Indian players were receiving Rs. 7 lakh for a 5-day affair, but as per the reports, the hike will now see a whooping Rs. 15 lakhs being paid to the cricketers in the longest format of the game.

As per the reports of the Indian Express, Anurag Thakur said, "We have doubled the match fees as we think Test cricket has to be given priority. We have had discussions to make Test cricket popular and lucrative among the new generation. If we need to keep the players' interest in Tests alive, we'll have to ensure that Test players are better paid. We can't shy away from the trend [of being attracted to well-paying T20 leagues] that we are witnessing among new cricketers."

In the past year or two, there have several attempts made to popularise and revive the lost glory of Test cricket, the most significant being the introduction of Day/Night matches using the ‘Pink’ ball which has been much in debate. Nowadays, Test matches are generally played in front of empty except a few series’ like the Ashes and those featuring India and other big teams.

A first ‘Pink” ball match was also held at the Eden Gardens where Bhowanipore played Mohun Bagan in the CAB Super League final earlier in the year.

The decision of changing the pay structure was taken at a working committee meeting in Mumbai on Monday and was followed by the special general meeting during which the BCCI was unable to come to a conclusion regarding implementing the recommendations of the Lodha Panel. This could turn out to be a big issue as the BCCI has missed the deadline of September 30 which was set by the committee for the implementations of its first set of reforms.

India is currently playing the second Test match of the series against New Zealand at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, and there are another 11 more matches to be played in this season, which means the Test players are certainly going to be pleased with the new deal.