Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay are among seven players to receive Grade A contracts © Associated Press
Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay have been included in the Grade-A category of annual contracts announced by the BCCI today. The trio joins Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane in the top category. The retainership for this grade of contract is now INR 2 crore (USD 300,000 approx), double what was offered to Grade-A contract holders when the previous list was out in November 2015. The new contracts are for the period October 1, 2016, to September 30, 2017.
The BCCI has also doubled the retainers for the remaining two categories. Players in Grade B will now fetch INR 1 crore (USD 150,000 approx) while those in Grade C will get INR 50 lakh (USD 75,000) per year. Also, the match fee per ODI and T20I has been doubled; players will now earn INR 6 lakh (USD 9,000 approx) per ODI and INR 3 lakh (USD 4,500 approx) per T20I. For Test-match fees, the BCCI has stuck to the decision taken last October to increase the amount from INR 7 lakh (USD 10,000 approx) to INR 15 lakh (USD 23,000 approx).
The biggest beneficiaries of this move are the Saurashtra pair of Jadeja and Pujara. The hike for Jadeja, who moved past Ashwin to become the No. 1 bowler after the Ranchi Test, is eight times his previous contract, which was worth INR 25 lakh (Grade C). Pujara, who plays only Tests and is currently No. 2 on the batting rankings, will get four times his previous retainer of INR 50 lakh (Grade B).
The highest-profile name to miss out in the list of 32 is Suresh Raina; he was not given a contract, having been slotted into Grade B the previous time.
KL Rahul and Wriddhiman Saha have moved up into Grade B, while limited-overs specialists Jasprit Bumrah and Yuvraj Singh get contracts (both Grade B) after not featuring in the previous list. Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu have moved down from Grade B to C.
The decision to revamp the central contracts and match fees was taken by the BCCI management in conjunction with the Supreme-Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA). Kohli had conveyed to the BCCI top brass last October that the players wanted their central contracts revised and in sync with the times. Reportedly, Kohli met with CoA head Vinod Rai earlier this month, after the Bangalore Test against Australia, to offer his thoughts in person. The issue was also discussed among the CoA, BCCI chief executive officer Rahul Johri and MV Sridhar, the board’s game development manager, over a few meetings since February.
Nagraj Gollapudi is a senior assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo