The Indian Cricket Board is set to make changes towards the contracts of the Indian players.
The formal announcement for the contract list is going to be made official soon. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will likely get the Grade B contract, as there is a possibility of them to get demoted from Group A category.
Along with Pujara and Rahane, Ishant Sharma might also get demoted to Group B category. The annual retainership contracts are provided by BCCI to the players on the basis of the individual player’s performance. Mohammed Siraj might get promoted to Grade B, or possibly Grade A from Grade C as per his performance in the proceeding year. Axar Patel might too get promoted from Grade C to B. Umesh Yadav is set to get demoted in Group B category. With the consistent performance of Shardul Thakur, Thakur might get promoted to Group A or remain in Group B category.
The contracts are divided into four categories- A+, A, B, and C which are worth – 7 cr, 5 cr, 3 cr and 1 cr respectively.
Grade A+ might not witness any changes as Virat, Rohit and Bumrah are likely to remain there without any demotion or addition of any other player. Grade A too might witness minimal changes in the category as KL Rahul ans Pant will remain in Grade A, along with Ashwin, Shami and Jadeja who will also remain in Grade A.
With the rumours of Pujara’s and Rahane’s demotion in contract category, Test team for India might struggle with a stable XI and a captain as the Test team is left with a lot of questions before setting to play the next longest format game.
