Wasim Akram Wants More For Test Cricketers

Wasim Akram, former Pakistan bowling legend, has questioned BCCI’s move to put many Test specialist players in Grade A and B.

BCCI only included five players in A+ category. Players who play all the formats of the game were named in this category.

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were the players who were placed in the premium category.

“Test specialists should (get more). Because that’s the most difficult cricket. That’s where you get hit by bouncers, you get hit on your head, on your fingers as a batsman. Bowlers bowl longer spells. That’s where the mindset of those who run cricket boards (matters). They should realise Test cricket is the ultimate and everything else follows,” Akram told Sport360.

Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay (all Test) were placed in Grade A along with Ajinkya Rahane (Test and ODI).

Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav, who only play Test cricket, were put in Grade B.

Akram seemed to be unhappy with Test players not being given the top contracts, and he spoke against the board putting Test cricketers in lower Grade.

As per the new contract, the players in A+ category will get a salary of Rs 7 Crore.

Players in A category will earn Rs 5 Crore while players in Grade B will receive a cheque of Rs 3 Crore.

Players in Grade C, who only play either of ODI or T20I, will earn Rs 1 Crore, yearly.

There were big surprises in the contract list as the board did not include the name of Shreyas Iyer.

Also, BCCI dropped the name of Shardul Thakur.

Last year, when he was yet to make his international debut, he was handed a contract, and now when he has been given a longer run, he was dropped.

The inclusion of Jayant Yadav and Karun Nair also raised few eyebrows as they haven’t played international cricket for past one year.

The inclusion of Suresh Raina in Grade C was also surprising. Though he has made his comeback to T20I side but is yet to regain his old form.

Rishabh Pant, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mandeep Singh and Yuvraj Singh were understandable exclusion from the contract list.

All of them are not in contention to be selected in the Indian team anytime soon.

List of players with contracts –

A+ category (Rs 7 crore each): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

A category (Rs 5 crore each): MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Wridhhiman Saha.

B category (Rs 3 crore each): KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma and Dinesh Karthik.

C category (Rs 1 crore each): Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav.

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