BCCI announced the central contracts on Wednesday where Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been excluded from the 30-member list.
BCCI Central Contracts 2023-24 season
The Board of Control for Cricket in India has revealed the central contracts where Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan’s central contracts were terminated.
Shreyas Iyer who plays for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, is set to be played in the 1st semi-final match of the Ranji Trophy 2024 schedule against Tamil Nadu.
Shreyas Iyer has decided to miss the Ranji Trophy match. On the other hand, Kishan has been on a break due to personal reasons. He was practicing with the MI Captain but did not play in the Ranji Trophy despite being told to play in the tournament.
KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Siraj have been elevated to the Grade A category while Rishabh Pant who missed the major season due to a road accident has been placed in Grade B.
Iyer was part of the Grade B category last season, and Kishan has been part of the Grade C contract in the last season.
NEWS 🚨- BCCI announces annual player retainership 2023-24 – Team India (Senior Men) #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/oLpFNLWMJp
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 28, 2024
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” said BCCI statement.
“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.”
The Indian players’ salaries in BCCI central contracts will reflect the individual’s performance according to which the grading system works.
On the other hand, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami have been retained in Grade A while Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja have been retained in the A+ category.
Axar Patel who moved to Grade A last year, has been moved to Grade B. Kuldeep Yadav has moved from Category C to B. On the other hand, the newly contracted player yashasvi Jaiswal has been bee placed in Grade B.
Suryakumar Yadav is the only player to be retained in the same category. Cheteshwar Pujara doesn’t find a contract this season.
Around 15 players have been named in the Grade C category, including 10 new players. Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.
On the other hand, Shardul Thakur, Washinton Sundar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, and KS Bharat have been retained in Grade C.
Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Hooda, and Yuzvendra Chahal have been excluded. The annual contracts for the 2023-24 season will be applicable from October 01, 2023, to September 30, 2024.
Players who feature in a minimum of 3 tests 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is win this period will be automatically added in category C.
If Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan who played two tests in the ongoing England tour of India 2024, will make it to the C grade of Central Contracts if they feature in the final test against England.
The Selection Committee has recommended a new category for the fast bowling department in which Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Vidwath Kaverappa will be included.
