Rahane, Ishant set to lose central contracts; Suryakumar, Hardik, Shubman likely to be promoted- Report

Inventor of the VJD rain rule method, V Jaydevan to be honored with a one-time payment.

The BCCI apex council meeting is set to happen on December 21 and it is reported that big changes can be made to the fresh central contracts lists for the senior India men’s team which will be finalized for the 2022-23 season.

The meeting, which has 12 items on the agenda, will be held via video conference. A review of the Indian team's performance in the recent T20 World Cup and Bangladesh ODIs is not part of the agenda but if the chairperson deems it necessary, non-listed items can be considered for discussion.

PTI has reported that the Indian board is set to axe senior pros like Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma from the central contracts list as they play only on format- Tests and have been out of contention for some time now.

Stumper-batter Wriddhiman Saha will also be axed from the list as he was specifically told at the start of the year that he won't be selected for India again.

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On the other hand, Hardik Pandya, who is seen as the future India T20I captain, is likely to get a promotion to Group B from C. He was demoted to Group C last year after missing a major part of last season due to a back injury.

And also, in line for promotion in the central contracts list are batters Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. Gill, who is now a two-format regular (Tests and ODIs) can expect a promotion from Group C to B.

"Surya was in Group C but his performance in the last one year warrants a promotion to Group B at least, if not A. He is currently world No. 1 in T20I ICC rankings and is a serious contender in ODI team also," a senior official told PTI.

An A+ contract offers Rs 7 crore, Group A Rs 5 crore, Group B Rs 3 crore and Rs Group C offers Rs 1 to the cricketers. A+ and A are two categories where the players are either all-format regulars or at least certainty in Tests along with one of the two white-ball formats. To be in Group B, a cricketer has to play at least two formats while group C is primarily for single-format players.

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Ishan Kishan, who recently became the fourth Indian to score a double-hundred in ODIs, is likely to be included in the central contracts lists after playing a considerable number of international games across two formats in 2022.

It was also reported that in a noble gesture, the Apex Council will also ratify a one-time payment for V Jaydevan, whose rain-rule formula is being used in domestic white-ball games for more than a decade now.

VJD is used for Mushtaq Ali T20, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and erstwhile Deodhar Trophy and Challenger Trophy, while the ICC uses the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method (DLS) in international games.

The BCCI will also discuss the status of two of its premier jersey sponsors- Edu-tech giant BYJUs and kit sponsor MPL.

(PTI inputs)