The Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to get underway on March 22 with the Chennai Super Kings set to take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the tournament opener at the MA Chidamrbaram Stadium in Chennai. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had recently warned players from picking "IPL over domestic cricket" and even excluded Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from their central contracts in order to set an example, it seems like they have a job on their hands, if they really want the players to prioritise India's premier first-class cricket competition.
An analysis report by the Indian Express finds that out of the 165 players that signed up for the IPL, as many as 56 did not play a single Ranji Trophy fixture this season. In addition, 25 other players played only one match, implying nearly half of the Indian cricketers in IPL 2024 played either one or no Ranji Trophy match. While it could be argued that the players have chosen to give the 4-days matches amiss in order to stay injury free and prolong their white-ball careers, there is no clear policy in place by the BCCI to keep the players in check.
Jay Shah Announces 'Test Cricket Incentive Scheme' To Prioritise Test Cricket
Among other measures to ensure youngsters do not shift their focus from red-ball cricket, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah also announced a 'Test cricket incentive sceheme'. As per this sceheme, players featuring in over 50 per cent of Test matches in a season (assuming 9 Tests) will receive Rs 30 lakh per as playing 11 incentive while a non-playing 11 incentive of Rs 15 lakh. Those that appear in less than 50 per cent of Tests will not receive any incentive whatsoever.
Meanwhile, players that appear in more than 75 per cent of Test matches which effectively means 7 or more Tests out of 9 fixtures, will receive Rs 45 lakh per match as playing 11 incentive while getting Rs 22.5 lakh per match incentive as non-playing members.