The governing body of Indian cricket has announced the list of centrally contracted players for both the men and women teams. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are the only three players, who have been kept in Grade A plus contract. The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan have been demoted from Grade A plus contract to Grade A contract.
There were speculations that Cheteshwar Pujara would be included in the top bracket considering his phenomenal performance in the Test series in Australia. He was the top run scorer in the four- match series and was also declared Man of the Series. However, the right hand batsman, is part of Grade A contract, meaning he would get a payment of Rs 5 crore.
Apart from Pujara, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and seven other players are part of Grade A bracket.
“Pujara did well in Australia but A-plus category is only for those who are excelling in at least two if not three formats. Pujara is only playing one format. Similarly, Ishant Sharma plays one format and is in A category,” Rediff cited reports quoting a BCCI official as saying.