- Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav
- Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues
- Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Radha Yadav, D Hemalatha, Anuja Patil, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mansi Joshi, Punam Raut, Mona Meshram, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Taniya Bhatia, Pooja Vastrakar
Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav has been rewarded for her success in recent times with the top-most contract in Indian women’s cricket, while newcomer Jemimah Rodrigues is among the most significant gainers as the BCCI announced the new list of centrally contracted players on Thursday, 7 March.
A BCCI statement, released late on Thursday night, confirmed the names and grades of the cricketers who will be on the annual retainer contract for 2018/19.
A total of 20 players – all of whom have turned out in at least one of the formats for the Women in Blue in the last year – have been handed contracts, although the retainer amount across the three grades has not been changed.
Poonam Yadav aside, ODI captain and record run-scorer Mithali Raj, T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and star batter Smriti Mandhana are the only players to be placed in the top bracket.
The 27-year-old leggie’s increment comes as a just reward for her consistency over the past couple of years. Poonam has scalped 69 wickets in 48 limited overs internationals since the start of 2018 – her haul of 35 T20I wickets last year is the highest by any bowler in a calendar year in the format.
Poonam swaps places with Jhulan Goswami in the pecking order. The veteran fast bowler finds herself in grade B, as she now only plays in ODIs, having retired from the shortest format ahead of last year’s World T20.
Jemimah Rodrigues climbs up the ladder, from grade C to B, just over a year after winning her maiden India cap. The 18-year-old, now a constant presence in India’s top-order in limited overs cricket, hasn’t taken the ODI game by storm yet, but averages a formidable 31.42 in T20Is – at a powerful strike rate of 127.02.
Spinner Ekta Bisht, fast bowler Shikha Pandey and all-rounder Deepti Sharma have retained their positions in grade B, with Rodrigues and Goswami’s addition taking the category’s strength to five.
Middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad have been demoted from grade B to C.
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