BCCI honors unsung heroes as groundsmen and curators set to receive cash rewards for exceptional work during IPL 2024

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a massive reward for the curators and ground staff members for their dedication and hard work in maintaining the pitches and grounds across the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024).

The BCCI announced the reward prize money for all the curators and ground staff of the IPL 2024 venues after the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won the trophy, defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets in the final at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, May 26.

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday, May 27, BCCI secretary Jay Shah made the official announcement by hailing the curators and ground staff as the 'unsung heroes' of the IPL. Expressing gratitude towards these 'unsung heroes' of the IPL, Shah acknowledged their relentless efforts in ensuring top-notch playing conditions throughout this season.

Groundsmen and curators are our unsung heroes: Jay Shah

Despite facing challenging weather conditions towards the end of the IPL 2024, the ground staff and curators continued to deliver exceptional pitches and ground conditions, and now the BCCI has decided to honor their contribution towards the success of the T20 extravaganza.

As a token of appreciation, Shah announced that the BCCI will pay a prize of INR 25 lakhs to the curators and ground staff at each of the 10 regular IPL 2024 venues. Additionally, venues that hosted only a couple of matches this season will also receive a reward of INR 10 lakh each.

Jay Shah said in his X post: “The unsung heroes of our successful T20 season are the incredible ground staff who worked tirelessly to provide brilliant pitches, even in difficult weather conditions. As a token of our appreciation, the groundsmen and curators at the 10 regular IPL venues will receive INR 25 lakhs each, and the same at the 3 additional venues will get INR 10 lakhs each. Thank you for your dedication and hard work!  @IPL @BCCI.”

The unsung heroes of our successful T20 season are the incredible ground staff who worked tirelessly to provide brilliant pitches, even in difficult weather conditions. As a token of our appreciation, the groundsmen and curators at the 10 regular IPL venues will receive INR 25…

— Jay Shah (@JayShah) May 27, 2024

This announcement made by the BCCI secretary highlighted the crucial role played by the ground staff and curators in ensuring the smooth conduct of matches, even under adverse weather conditions and the importance of acknowledging their key role in the success of the IPL.

These are the venues that hosted IPL 2024 matches

Notably, Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Chennai's M.A. Chidambaram Chepauk Stadium, Kolkata's Eden Garden, Ahmadabad's Narendra Modi Stadium and Mullanpur's Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium were among the venues for this season.

Bangalore's M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Guwahati's Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Lucknow's Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, and Dharamsala-Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium also hosted the IPL matches this season. However, Dharamshala and Guwahati got only a couple of games to host in the IPL 2024.

This IPL season was a high-scoring affair, with teams surpassing the 200-run mark an impressive 37 times. Surprisingly, none of the teams in the IPL 2024 playoffs managed to cross the 200-run mark, including the final match between KKR and SRH.