Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lost their contracts on Wednesday after both players opted to skip Ranji Trophy matches. This decision came as the BCCI announced annual retainerships for the 2023-24 season.
Kishan has been on an extended break “due to personal reasons” since returning from the India tour of South Africa in December-January. Despite practicing with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda, he has not represented Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy, despite being instructed to do so by the Indian Board. Meanwhile, Iyer was missing from Mumbai’s final Ranji Trophy league match against Assam at BKC and also sat out the Ranji quarter-final against Baroda.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah issued a warning to centrally contracted and India A cricketers last week, stating that non-participation in the ongoing Ranji Trophy would not be tolerated. He emphasized that chief selector Ajit Agarkar would be given a “free hand in this regard” to address the matter.
The board reiterated its stance, emphasizing that all players should prioritize participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not part of the national team.
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, reflecting their significant contributions and performances.
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant, who missed a significant portion of the season due to recovery from a road accident, has been placed in Grade B.
The contracts for Team India (Senior Men) will be effective 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.
The statement added,
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 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 new faces included in the central contracts list for cricket. Both players have been added to the Grade C category, which comprises 15 players.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube’s impressive returns to the Indian T20I team stand out in this category. Additionally, Jitesh Sharma’s inclusion in the Grade C list, replacing Ishan Kishan, is worth noting.
Interestingly, this time the BCCI has omitted mentioning the players’ remuneration across the four categories. Typically, cricketers receive Rs 7 crore annually in the A plus bracket, Rs 5 crore in A, Rs 3 crore in B, and Rs 1 crore in the C category, in addition to their match fees.
LIST OF ANNUAL CONTRACTS:
Grade A+ (4 Athletes) :
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A (6 Athletes) :
Ravi 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.
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