Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara
Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara. (Photo: Twitter)

Senior Indian batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara are most likely to be demoted in the BCCI central contracts.

Rahane and Pujara’s position in India’s Test team have come under intense scrutiny after their inconsistent performances with the bat for an extended period of time.

IPL 2022 Auction | IPL 2022 Teams | IPL News and Updates | IPL  2022 Schedule | ICC Teams  Rankings | ICC Players Rankings

The senior batters have received a lot of support from the Indian management but no improvements have been seen in their batting form.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Photo-Getty
Photo-Getty

Ajinkya Rahane in 2021, scored just 479 runs in 23 innings at an extremely poor average of 20.82 including just 2 50+ scores. Rahane, who was recently removed from the Test vice-captaincy, scored just 136 runs in the three-match Test series against South Africa at an average of 22.66.

Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara. Credits: Twitter

Meanwhile, India’s No.3 in Tests Cheteshwar Pujara scored 124 runs in the three-match Test series against South Africa at an average of 20.66. Overall in 2021, he scored 702 runs in 26 innings at an average of 28.08 including 6 50+ scores.

Under Normal Circumstances, Cheteshwar Pujara And Ajinkya Rahane Ideally Won’t Feature In Group A – BCCI Source

Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, Indian
. Image Credits: Twitter

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. The retainerships are decided by the three office-bearers, five selectors and the national head coach.

Read More  LSG vs PBKS Match Preview- IPL 2024, Match 11

Rahane and Pujara are currently in group A, and the BCCI source has said that the duo won’t feature in group A after their performance in 2021. However, the source added that Rahane and Pujara could retain grade A contracts if head coach Rahul Dravid decides to honour the duo.

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,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya are also likely to be demoted and Shardul Thakur could be promoted to group A.

Speedster Mohammed Siraj, and batters Shubman Gill and Hanuma Vihari are expected to get an upgrade. All-rounder Venkatesh Iyer and pacer Harshal Patel could also get the contracts this time.

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

Read More  Riyan Parag to play for India in T20 World Cup? Former Indian all-rounder drops a bold prediction

Grade C: Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Md. Siraj.

Also Read: Sourav Ganguly Was Keen On Serving Show Cause Notice To Virat Kohli After Last Month’s Press Conference – Reports

Get All Cricket match prediction and fantasy Tips – CLICK HERE

Cricket Match Prediction | T20 World Cup Match Prediction | Today Match Fantasy Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket News and Updates | Cricket Live Score

Sonanchal Gautam is the Assistant Content Manager at Cricketaddictor. He is a professional Wrestling and Hip-hop enthusiast.