Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer snubbed as BCCI announces central contracts for 2023-24

The BCCI has announced central contracts for Indian cricketers for the season 2023-24.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC) has announced annual central contracts on Wednesday, 28th February. The BCCI has named 30 players in the annual retainership for the senior men’s category. 30 players have been divided into four grades. The BCCI has divided players intro Grade A+, Grade A, Grade B and Grade C. Only four players have found their place in the top Grade of A+. The board has also taken a few big decisions in choosing players for the BCCI annual central contracts.

Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan were not considered for the central contracts. Reportedly, a couple of weeks back Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were asked to play in the Indian domestic cricket, but they skipped the prestigious Ranji Trophy, which resulted in BCCI not considering their names for the central contracts for 2023-24.

Among with Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav also have found their way out from the contracts. Three other cricketers – Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda and Shikhar Dhawan also have been excluded from the central contracts.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India released an official statement and stated that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan’s name were considered. BCCI official release stated, “Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations.” Ishan Kishan has been out of action since he pulled out of South Africa tour citing ‘mental fatigue.’

The selection panel also recommended few young pacers’ names in the central contracts. Selection panel recommended Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Vidwath Kaverappa’s names for the ‘Fast Bowlers’ central contracts. The BCCI also issued a strict warning that a centrally contracted player should play in Indian domestic cricket when they are not part of national duty.

Captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are the four players awarded with Grade A+ in the central contracts. Ravi Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya are part of the Grade A list.

BCCI also explained that if a cricketer plays three tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20I matches in the season (1st October 2023 to 30th September 2024), that cricketer will be automatically added to the Grade C list of central contracts. Which means, if Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan play the Dharamsala test against England, they will be placed in Grade C of central contracts. Currently, 15 players are part of the Grade C.

It is also to be noted that new stars like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravi Bishnoi have been handed their maiden BCCI central contracts.

List of players awarded BCCI central contracts for season 2023-24:

Grade A+ (4 players) – 7 crores

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

Grade A (6 players) – 5 crores

R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.

Grade B (5 players) – 3 crores

Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Grade C (15 players) – 1 crore

Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.

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