After their poor run of scores in recent series’, batters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s position in Group A for the BCCI central contracts could also be in danger. The BCCI are expected to finalise on the new list for the central contracts in the coming days.
Meanwhile, according to a report in PTI, the other question that is in front of the decision makers is whether to upgrade KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant to the A+ category, which currently has Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.
The BCCI has four categories — A+, A, B and C — which carry annual retainership of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively. Normally, it is the three office-bearers, five selectors and the national head coach, who decide retainerships.
The report further states that it is unlikely that there will be big changes in terms of the 28 names that featured in the last list, but it is the composition of the grouping that is expected to kick off serious discussions.
"Obviously, Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah being the three indispensable players across formats would be in A plus category beyond doubt. But now Rahul and Pant are slowly establishing themselves as all-format regulars, so it needs to be seen whether the duo gets promotion or not," a BCCI was quoted as saying by PTI.
However, a conversation about Pujara and Rahane’s poor run of form is definitely expected.
"The central contract is a performance indicator of where you stand as per your performance during the last season. If the BCCI and head coach (Rahul) Dravid decide to honour the duo and keep them in group A, then it's a different issue but under normal circumstances, they ideally won't feature in group A," the source said.
Similarly, the likes of Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya might also come under the scanner as both have struggled with injury and form.
The report also added that the likes of Shardul Thakur might be hopeful of a promotion to Group B to A while the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari might also be in line for a move up from Group C.
Last Season's (2021) Contract List:
Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mohd. Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya
Grade B: Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Agarwal
Grade C: Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Md. Siraj.
(With PTI Inputs)
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