The BCCI on Wednesday (February 28) announced the list of central contracts for Team India senior men’s team cricketers.
The annual contracts list for the 2023-24 season didn’t include Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who seemed to have paid the price for ignoring the board’s directives to take part in the Ranji Trophy.
“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 in recent times. R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami and Hardik Pandya are also part of the same category.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in a horrific car accident in December 2022, has been placed in Grade B alongside Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Akshar Patel.
Left-handed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has taken the cricketing world by storm with his stunning exploits in the ongoing Test series against England, also features in the Grade B category.
Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma are among the notable names included in the central contracts list, which will run from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Both players have been added to the Grade C category, which includes as many as 15 cricketers.
Reacting to the annual contracts list, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted: “Well done to @BCCI for rewarding players who want to play the tough cricket and only for one reason…to face the ‘acid test’ as cricketers.”
On the other hand, ex-India all-rounder Irfan Pathan shared a cryptic post as he wrote, “Unbelievable!”, possibly expressing his shock at some of the decisions taken by the board regarding the annual contracts.
LIST OF ANNUAL CONTRACTS:
Grade A+ (4 Athletes) Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A (6 Athletes) R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
Grade B (5 Athletes) Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Akshar 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.
