In the latest central contract list announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Indian captain, Virat Kohli, limited-overs vice-captain, Rohit Sharma, and premiere bowler, Jasprit Bumrah bagged the Grade A+ contract.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant got a Grade A contract while pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and opener, Shikhar Dhawan got demoted to Grade A.
There were talks about Cheteswar Pujara getting a Grade A+ contract, but that wasn’t the case and he continues to be in A category. Mohammed Shami also got promoted to Grade A from Grade B while players like KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya continue to be in the Grade B contract.
Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay were notable names that didn’t get contracts. Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha also got a contract despite being out of action from the Indian team.
In Men’s cricket, the A+ category players are paid a yearly fee of Rs 7 crore, while A category players get Rs 5 crore. Grade B and C category players are getting Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.
In Women’s cricket, Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav and Harmanpreet Kaur have got Grade A contract.
Grade A players will bag Rs 50 lakhs as yearly retainer fee while Grade B players are paid Rs 30 lakhs in Women’s cricket.
Men’s cricket:
Grade A+ (Rs 7 Cr): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A (Rs 5 Cr): R Ashwin, Ra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant
Grade B (Rs 3 Cr): KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya
Grade C (Rs 1 Cr): Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed, Wriddhiman Saha
Women’s cricket:
Grade A (Rs 50 Lakhs): Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam yadav
Grade B (Rs 30 Lakhs): Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues
Grade C (Rs 10 Lakhs): Radha Yadav, D Hemalatha, Anuja Patil, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mansi Joshi, Punam Raut, Mona Meshram, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Taniya Bhatia, Pooja Vastrakar