BCCI Central Contracts – Rahane, Pujara set for demotion? KL Rahul & Rishabh Pant is set for promtion in the BCCI Central Contracts. But the veteran batsman Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s position in group A of the BCCI central contracts could be up for deliberation. The board will finalize its fresh list of contracted players for the upcoming season in a few days’ time. InsideSport already had reported that both Pujara & Rahane is likely to lose thier place in the team when selectors select squad for home series vs Sri Lanka: Follow Indian Cricket LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN
Rahane and Pujara are all set to be demoted to Grade B from the Grade A category. According to the available information, Ishant Sharma is also likely to be downgraded to Grade B.
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BCCI Central Contracts: KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant up for promotion, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara set to lose GRADE A Contracts? Report
The BCCI top brass is likely to upgrade two future captaincy contenders — KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant — alongside Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in the elite A+ category.
The BCCI has four categories — A+, A, B and C — which carry annual retainership of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.
Normally, it is the three office-bearers, five selectors and the national head coach, who decide retainerships.
As of now, there won’t be massive changes to the 28 names that featured in the last list but there could be some serious discussions about the composition of the current groups which were in place last year.
“Obviously, Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah being the three indispensable players across formats would be in A plus category beyond doubt. But now Rahul and Pant are slowly establishing themselves as all-format regulars, so it needs to be seen whether the duo gets promotion or not,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.
Rahane, Pujara set for demotion? But what could be a more debatable issue is Pujara and Rahane’s status after a year of consistent non-performance. Rahane and Pujara are all set to be demoted to Grade B from the Grade A category.
“The central contract is a performance indicator of where you stand as per your performance during the last season. If the BCCI and head coach (Rahul) Dravid decide to honour the duo and keep them in group A, then it’s a different issue but under normal circumstances, they ideally won’t feature in group A,” the source said.
Hardik Pandya set to lose Central Contract? Ditto for Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya, who have both struggled due to injuries and lack of form throughout the season and could feature in group B.
According to the available information, Ishant Sharma is also likely to be downgraded to Grade B.
Similarly, among the group B players of last season, only Shardul Thakur, who has had some impactful performances in Test matches, can be hopeful of a promotion to group A.
In current group C, Mohammed Siraj is one man, who has shown tremendous improvement while Shubman Gill is one for the future along with Hanuma Vihari, who would also be expecting an upgrade.
BCCI Central Contracts: Other Notable Changes
- Mohammed Siraj is expected to get a promotion from Grade C to either Grade B.
- Axar Patel too may expect to be elevated from Grade C to B.
- Umesh Yadav is likely to fall to Grade C.
- Shardul Thakur is also likely to stay in Grade B.
Among newcomers, the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Harshal Patel could make their maiden cut.
Last Season’s (2021) BCCI Central Contract List
- Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
- Grade A: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mohd. Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya
- Grade B: Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal
- Grade C: Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Md. Siraj.
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