India’s all-format allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has been bumped up to Grade A+ category of BCCI central contracts, which has just three other players in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. The quartet will earn INR 7 Cr annually. Jadeja’s left-arm spin twin Axar Patel moved up from Grade B to A.
Another allrounder to take a big upward leap is Hardik Pandya, who moves from Grade C to Grade A. Hardik had fallen to C last year owing to fitness issues but has been effective since return and even handed white-ball captaincy in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill meanwhile, have climbed up from Grade C to Grade B.
India have also awarded Arshdeep Singh and KS Bharat their first contracts (Grade C). The left-arm made steady strides from the Punjab Kings camp to the national team one, debuting in both white-ball formats and even being part of India’s World Cup campaign last year while Bharat made his Test debut at the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the absence of the injured Rishabh Pant.
The trio of Wriddhiman Saha, Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal, who have all lost their spot in the Test side, were not included in the contract lists after previously being in Grade C. There’s no central contract for Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Deepak Chahar either.
While Cheteshwar Pujara retained his Grade B contract, fellow veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane has been omitted after loss of form and his Test spot. Ishant Sharma is on the same boat as Rahane, after his last Test appearance came back in November 2021.
Kuldeep Yadav, who wasn’t retained last time around, has been handed a Grade C contract. KL Rahul meanwhile, has dropped from Grade A to B.
Grade A+ (INR 7 Cr): Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A(INR 5 Cr): Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel
Grade B(INR 3 Cr): Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill
Grade C(INR 1 Cr): Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat
