- Former Indian cricketer MS Dhoni has been dropped from the BCCI central contracts.
- Virat, Rohit & Bumrah remain in the A+ category, earning Rs 7 crore a season.
- The contracts are for the October 2019 to September 2020 period.
The BCCI on Thursday, 16 January, announced annual cricket contracts for the October 2019 to September 2020 period, and former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s name was dropped entirely.
The former skipper hasn't announced his retirement or made himself available for international cricket since the 2019 ICC World Cup, and his omission from the central contracts falls on expected lines.
Till last season, Dhoni was in the A category earning Rs 5 crore a year from his BCCI contract.
Skipper Virat Kohli, his white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma and top pacer Jasprit Bumrah were retained in the highest A+ bracket of Rs 7 crore.
Among the other changes from last season’s contracts are KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha, who have moved up to the Grade A and Grade B categories respectively.
Mayank Agarwal, who made his international debut last year and finished 2019 as India’s highest-scoring Test cricketer, has been awarded with his first BCCI contract. He is part of the Grade B category and will earn Rs 3 crore a year.
Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar have all been named in the Grade C (Rs 1 crore) category while Khaleel Ahmed, Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik have all been omitted.
Dhoni Future Continues to be Uncertain
Head coach Ravi Shastri had recently said that Dhoni may soon end his ODI career but could be in contention for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad provided he does well in the IPL.
Outgoing chief selector MSK Prasad has already made his stance clear on Dhoni, saying the World Cup-winning captain can only be selected again on the basis of performances.
While Dhoni has not revealed anything about his future, he is very much expected to captain Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 IPL.
Since the World Cup, he has missed the tour of the West Indies and the home series against South Africa, Bangladesh, the West Indies and the ongoing one against Australia.
One of the biggest names in Indian cricket, Dhoni led India to two world titles — the 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the 2011 ODI World Cup at home.
The veteran has played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20 Internationals for India, accumulating over 17,000 runs and effecting a staggering 829 dismissals behind the stumps.
Grade A+ Contract (Rs 7 Crore)
- Virat Kohli
- Rohit Sharma
- Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A Contract (Rs 5 Crore)
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar
- Cheteshwar Pujara
- Ajinkya Rahane
- K L Rahul
- Shikhar Dhawan
- Mohd. Shami
- Ishant Sharma
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Rishabh Pant
Grade B Contract (Rs 3 Crore)
- Wriddhiman Saha
- Umesh Yadav
- Yuzvendra Chahal
- Hardik Pandya
- Mayank Agarwal
Grade C Contract (Rs 1 Crore)
- Kedar Jadhav
- Navdeep Saini
- Deepak Chahar
- Manish Pandey
- Hanuma Vihari
- Shardul Thakur
- Shreyas Iyer
- Washington Sundar
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