The BCCI announced the new annual contracts for Indian cricketers with 26 players in the senior men’s list. This contract is for the period from October 2017 to September 2018.
The players like Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar got downgraded from the top list and youngster Rishabh Pant was seen rewarded with an entry to the top A category.
Previously A+ category had five players which got reduced to three which includes Captain Virat Kohli, ODI, and T20 vice-captain Rohit Sharma and paceman Jasprit Bumrah who will receive Rs 7 crore.
Both Dhawan and Bhuvneshwar are now in A category which was another major development. They are now placed along with the list of MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and others who receive Rs 5 crores each.
Dhawan’s downgraded contract didn’t come as a surprise as he was dropped from the Test team after the England tour and Bhuvneshwar too doesn’t feature in regularly in Tests anymore.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Pant meanwhile begins to reap the rewards for a highly successful 2018 in international cricket, which saw him becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper to smash Test hundreds in England and Australia.
