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On Thursday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Annual Player Contracts for Team India (Men) for the period from October 2020 to September 2021. As many as 28 cricketers have received the contracts, with only three in the A+ category.
The latest additions to the contract list are Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel. Gill and Siraj had a memorable Australia tour, and hence they have been handed the Grade C contract. Similarly, Axar, who filled the shoes of the injured Ravindra Jadeja during the England Tests, has been included in the C category.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya has been promoted to Grade A from Grade B. At the same time, pacer Shardul Thakur has moved from Grade C to Grade B.
Skipper Virat Kohli, opener Rohit Sharma and frontline bowler Jasprit Bumrah have retained their spots in Grade A+.
Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav, who were previously in the Grade C category, have not been given any contract this time.
The spin pair of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been demoted to Grade C. At the same time, the swing sensation Bhuvneshwar Kumar has also been downgraded to Grade B mostly due to the lack of cricket he played.
When it comes to the payment structure, all the players are divided into four categories, i.e. A+, A, B, and C.
Cricketers in the A+ category will be paid INR 7 crore for the above-mentioned contract period while players in the A-class will earn INR 5 crore. Likewise, Grade B and Grade C players will get INR 3 crore and INR 1 crore, respectively.
Here is India’s annual player contracts list:
- Grade A+ (INR 7 Cr): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
- Grade A (INR 5 Cr): Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya
- Grade B (INR 3 Cr): Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal
- Grade C (INR 1 Cr): Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.
