No extra cover for Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan

PTI

New Delhi, February 28

Skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli retained their places in the top bracket but the out-of-favour duo of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were excluded after ignoring the directive to play Ranji Trophy as the BCCI unveiled its centrally-contracted players for this year today.

Rohit, Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja figured in the A-plus category, the highest bracket of the BCCI’s central contracts list.

The 25-year-old Kishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team’s campaign in the Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty since leaving from the tour of South Africa in December citing personal reasons. He has instead focused on preparing for the IPL next month.

Iyer, on the other hand, did not make himself available for Mumbai’s quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He, however, has been picked for the Ranji semifinals starting March 2.

Full BCCI central contracts list

Grade A+

• Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A

• R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya

Grade B

• Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal

Grade C

• Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar

The other big names who have lost their contracts include Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who all have fallen out of favour with the selectors.

“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” BCCI stated. “The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team,” the statement added.

Six cricketers feature in the A category, including Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya. Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal have got the B category contracts.

As many as 15 have been handed the C category contracts including Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.

Cricketers who end up playing a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period are automatically included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis.

For instance, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, having played two Test matches so far, will be inducted in Grade C after they take part in the fifth and final game against England in Dharamsala beginning March 7.

The selection committee has also recommended fast bowling contracts for Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.

Akash Deep had impressed on debut in the recent fourth Test against England, which India won to seal the series.

In a departure from the norm, BCCI this time has not mentioned the remuneration of the players across the four categories.

Cricketers are normally paid Rs 7 crore per annum in the A-plus bracket, Rs 5 crore in A, Rs 3 crore in B and Rs 1 crore in the C categories, over and above their match fee.

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