On Thursday (April 14), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had released the annual contract list for its players. Some new faces were spotted paving their way on the list.
Every year, the apex board reward its players by picking them in different grades. These grades are divided into four categories, i.e. Grade A+, A, B and C. While players in the A+ group earn INR 7 crore annually, those in group A get INR 5 crore. Similarly, cricketers in Grade B and C are paid INR 3 crore and 1 crore, respectively.
Recent debutants for Team India, Mohammad Siraj and Shubman Gill made their way in the list, and players like Hardik Pandya received a promotion from Grade B to Grade A. However, one of the notable omissions from the list was T Natarajan, who was one of the star performers during the Australia tour.
Natarajan was not named in the annual contract list because of the criteria set by BCCI where a player has to play a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is in a season. Nattu has not yet fulfilled these norms as he has only played one Test, two ODIs and four T20Is.
The Tamil Nadu pacer can still make it to the contract list if he appears in two or more Test matches in England this year or six ODIs or six T20Is before September 2021.
Another thing that captured everyone’s attention was related to India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who was considered for the promotion in the central contract list, but strangely he missed it. As per Cricbuzz, the 32-year-old was initially considered for the Grade A+, but only three players – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah – were finalised for the top-most category.
