By Karan Agrawal 
The BCCI is planning to adopt a corporate-style performance-based pay structure in an attempt to make players more accountable for their performance. The idea was propagated during BCCI’s recent meeting to review India’s performance in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost for the first time since 2014.
The Report
According to a report in the Indian Express, the proposed pay structure involves a corporate-style performance review based on which either the player will get a raise or a pay cut. The BCCI is keen on adopting this style in an attempt to make players more accountable for their performance. “It was one of the suggestions given that players should be held accountable and if their performance is deemed not fit as per expectations, they should face variable pay cuts,” a source said.
The Importance
Along with players’ accountability, another reason for inculcating the move is to make the next generation aware of the importance of Test Cricket. “There was discussion whether the current players were a bit indifferent when India loses a Test match. The team management understands the value of Test cricket but many players don’t give too much importance to it,” the source said.
The Reason
BCCI’s fresh move about the pay structure is the extension of its decision taken in 2024 to provide monetary benefits to the players who will feature in more than 50% of multi-day matches with an increase in match salary to 30 lakh per match which goes up to 45 lakh per match if the player plays 75% of the matches starting from the 2022/23 season. This was done to ensure that more players feature in the Ranji Trophy and other domestic first-class tournaments amid the growing popularity of T20 leagues around the world so that the popularity of Test Cricket remains intact.