BCCI contracts: Shafali in Grade B; Taniya, Harleen retain spots

New Delhi, May 19

Haryana teenager Shafali Verma has been promoted from Grade C to Grade B as the Indian cricket board (BCCI) named 19 players in its list of annually contracted women cricketers.

Like last year, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav are the only three players to get Grade A contracts, worth Rs 50 lakh per annum.

Grade B, which entails an annual retainer of Rs 30 lakh, has swelled from eight cricketers last year to 10 names now. Chandigarh’s Taniya Bhatia has retained her spot in Grade B.

Chandigarh-born Harleen Deol, who plays for Himachal Pradesh, has been retained in Grade C, which has an annual retainer of Rs 10 lakh. Veda Krishnamurthy, who was in Grade C last year, has been dropped altogether from the list of contracted players.— TNS

Contracted players

• Grade A: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav
• Grade B: Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma, Punam Raut, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues
• Grade C: Mansi Joshi, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Richa Ghosh