The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday (February 28) announced the list of central contracts for 2023-24, with four players being put in the Grade A+ category.
Notably, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer have been left out of the annual contracts list. Both batters had reportedly been ignoring BCCI’s directives to take part in the Ranji Trophy, and the board has seemingly cracked the whip on them.
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” a statement from BCCI read over the duo's absence from the central contracts.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have been placed in the highest category (Grade A+) of BCCI central contracts.
KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Siraj have been promoted to the Grade A category in the central contracts list, highlighting their significant contributions and performances.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant, who missed a major chunk of the season due to recovery from a car accident, has been placed in Grade B.
The contracts for Team India (Senior Men) will run from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
"Athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis," BCCI said in a media statement.
"For instance, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, having played 2 Test matches so far, will be inducted into Grade C if they participate in the Dharamsala Test Match, i.e., the 5th Test of the ongoing series against England," the statement added.
The selection committee also recommended fast bowling contracts for the following athletes – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.
Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma are among the notable names included in the central contracts list for cricket. Both players have been added to the Grade C category, which features a total of 15 cricketers.
Jitesh Sharma, who replaced Ishan Kishan in the Indian T20I team, is also part of the Grade C list alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube.
LIST OF ANNUAL CONTRACTS:
Grade A+ (4 Athletes) Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A (6 Athletes) R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
Grade B (5 Athletes) Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Grade C (15 Athletes) Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.
