New Delhi (PTI): Walking the talk about giving highest priority to Test cricket, the BCCI has decided to increase the match fee to up to Rs 45 lakh from the existing Rs 15 lakh for all those who play at least seven long-form games per season, Board secretary Jay Shah announced on Saturday.

A Test player, who gets to appear in a possible 10 Tests in a season will be richer by a whopping Rs 4.50 crore, apart from the assured retainer fee that he gets for having an annual central contract.

The incentives will be retrospective and would factor in players who were part of Test cricket during the 2022-23 season.

The decision was taken after some players like Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar snubbed Ranji Trophy cricket to continue training with their IPL teams despite the Board's diktat to priortise red-ball cricket.

Currently, an Indian Test cricketer, who is picked in the playing XI gets Rs 15 lakh while the reserves get Rs 7.5 lakh.

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"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," Shah stated on 'X'.

"Commencing from the 2022-23 season, the 'Test Cricket Incentive Scheme' will serve as an additional reward structure on top of the existing match fee for Test matches, set at INR 15 lakhs," he further stated.

The BCCI also explained the module considering there could be at least nine Test matches per season.

If a player competes in up to four Tests from a possible nine per season, he would get the existing Rs 15 lakh per game while reserves draw in half of that.

However, a first eleven player will have his match fee doubled to Rs 30 lakh in case he ends up playing at least five to six games, with reserves being rewarded with Rs 15 lakh per game.

However, the moment a player is in the first XI for seven or more games in a season, he will be getting Rs 45 lakh per match with reserves getting Rs 22.5 lakh, which will be more than what the existing match fee (Rs 15 lakh) is for a playing XI cricketer. 

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Mumbai, Jan 8: Veteran journalist, poet and filmmaker Pritish Nandy passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday, sources close to him said.

Nandy (73) died after a cardiac arrest at his home in south Mumbai and his last rites were performed in the evening, they said.

In a social media post, veteran actor and Nandy's friend Anupam Kher paid glowing tributes to him.

"Deeply deeply saddened and shocked to know about the demise of one of my dearest and closest friends #PritishNandy! Amazing poet, writer, filmmaker and a brave and unique editor/journalist!" Kher wrote.

"He was my support system and a great source of strength in my initial days in Mumbai. We shared lots of things in common. He was also one of the most fearless people I had come across. Always Larger than life. I learnt so many things from him. Off-late we didn’t meet much. But there was a time when we were inseparable! I will never forget when he surprised me by putting me on the cover of Filmfare and more importantly The Illustrated Weekly," Kher added.

Nandy was a former Rajya Sabha member of the Shiv Sena and also an animal rights advocate.

His company, Pritish Nandy Communications, made films like 'Sur', 'Kaante', 'Jhankaar Beats', 'Chameli', 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi', and 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' and also produced the web series 'Four More Shots Please!'

Nandy wrote around 40 books of poetry in English and translated poems from Bengali, Urdu, and Punjabi into English.