Big names omitted as BCCI announces India men’s central contracts

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were among the two biggest omissions from the Annual Player Contracts list for 2023-2024 announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” BCCI said in their statement.

In last year’s retainer, Iyer was in Grade B while Kishan was part of Grade C.

The elite bracket, Grade A+, remains the same for the year with captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja as the top earners.

Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, and Hardik Pandya held on to Grade A contracts with KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Shubman Gill joining them from Grade B of last year.

The No.1 ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav is part of Grade B and among others, is joined by young sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been handed a BCCI central contract for the first time.

Members of India’s T20I battalion such as Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi and Jitesh Sharma, have been awarded Grade C contracts.

Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan could join the Grade C category if they feature in the final Test against England in Dharamsala. The criteria for a Grade C contract require players to play a minium of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period.

Currently, both Jurel and Sarfaraz have played two Test matches each and if they feature in the upcoming fifth Test, they would fulfil the eligibility criteria to receive their maiden BCCI contracts.

Five pacers – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa – were recommended for Fast Bowling contracts by the Selection Committee.

 

Grade A+

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A

R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya

Grade B

Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal

Grade C

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