MS Dhoni Set To Incur Huge Loss If He Makes Comeback Into National Squad For T20 World Cup

The absence of MS Dhoni from the BCCI’s contract list was the only surprising update. The former India captain hasn’t played any competitive match for six months now but as India head coach Ravi Shastri has said, he remains in scheme of things for T20 World Cup. A good show in IPL 2020 can see him make a comeback for the marquee event.

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But the board had to take a decision on him. Since he will not play any international game before IPL, the board decided to drop him. It remains to be seen if he makes a comeback now but if Dhoni plays for India again, he will incur a big loss.

Dhoni was offered a Grade A (Rs 5 Crore) contract last year but if he plays now, he will be paid Rs 1 Crore, 4 Crore less what earned last year. As per BCCI’s rules, players who are not offered a contract are paid the same amount that a player of the last grade – Grade C in this case – receive. Hence, Dhoni will incur a loss of Rs 4 Crore if he makes a comeback now.

There was no change in the A+ category as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah continued to keep their spots in the top grade. Rohit has revived his Test career with performances in the home season but he has a big challenge on the foreign soil. Bumrah has become Team India’s lead pacer across formats.

Apart from Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu and Khaleel Ahmed lost their central contracts. Karthik was dropped after World Cup 2019 but can make a comeback in the shortest format.

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Rayudu is unlikely to make a comeback now while Khaleel failed to come up with consistent performances. Although he can always make a comeback if he does well in domestic cricket. He is a part of India A squad for the one-day series against New Zealand A.