News by “Sana Ullah”
On February 28, the Board of Control for Cricket in India unveiled its annual player retainership for Team India – Senior Men for the 2023-24 season. The Grade A+ category, boasting a salary of ₹7 crore annually, welcomed esteemed players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Valid from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, the contracts also placed R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya in Grade A, where players typically earn up to ₹5 crore per year. Additionally, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal were included in Grade B, set to receive around ₹3 crore annually.
In Grade C, 15 players, including 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, will each earn up to ₹1 crore annually.
Furthermore, athletes meeting specified playing criteria, such as participating in a minimum number of Tests, ODIs, or T20Is, will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis. Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan stand to be inducted into Grade C pending their participation in the Dharamsala Test Match.
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan did not feature in this round of contract recommendations.
The Selection Committee also proposed Fast Bowling contracts for Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Vidwath Kaverappa.
The BCCI emphasized the importance of prioritizing participation in domestic cricket during periods when players are not representing the national team.
