BCCI Announces Central Contract For Upcoming Season; Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah In Top-Bracket

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Thursday, announced the central contracts for its players for the upcoming season.

As it came to notice earlier, Rishabh Pant has been given a big jump as he finds himself sitting in Grade A bracket after his performances in Test cricket.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was not offered a contract last year but his performances have seen make a comeback in the contract list and earn a big pay cheque.

This time around, there are only three cricketers in the A+ category in the form of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.

All the three players are apart of the team across formats, the reason why they are placed in the top-bracket.

Last year, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan were also a part of top-bracket but got dropped.

Dhawan has already lost his place in the Test team. He was a given a longer run in England Test series but he failed, that saw him lose his place to Prithvi Shaw later.

In case of Bhuvneshwar, an injury cost him at a big time as the back issue ruled him out of the England Test series, where he was a confirmed selection in the playing XI.

He is yet to play a Test match since January 2018.

The pacer has returned to team India for final three ODIs of the series against Australia but it is not sure whether he will be part of the playing XI or not.

Senior players, who are mostly part of the Test team, find themselves in Grade A bracket.

Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma find them in Grade A. Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni is also a part of Grade A bracket.

KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Hardik Pandya are four players who find themselves in Grade B.

A total of seven players are apart of Grade C with Hanuma Viihari also a part of it.

The middle-order batsman and part-time off-spinner had made his Test debut in England last year and has done well in four Test matches that he has played so far.

Murali Vijay, Jayant Yadav, Axar Patel, Karun Nair and Parthiv Patel are four players who were a part of central contract list last year but have been dropped for the upcoming season.

Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Grade A: R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant

Grade B: KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya

Grade C: Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed, Wriddhiman Saha