Mumbai:A 21-year-old explosive wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant received Grade A Central Contract for the 2018-19 season. Meanwhile, the Board for Cricket Control in India (BCCI) trimmed down the top bracket of Grade 'A-plus' to just three players in which skipper Virat Kohli, vice-captain in limited-overs game Rohit Sharma and pacer Jasprit Bumrah managed to retain their name.
The Board on Thursday announced annual players' contact list."The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) for BCCI on Thursday announced the Annual Player Contracts for the period from October 2018 to September 2019," the board said in a statement.
Here is the full list of players.
Grade A Plus (Rs 7 crore)
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah. Previously, five players were part of this elite list- Shikhar Dhawan and Bhuvneshar Kumar failed to retain the top contract.
Grade A (Rs 5 crore)
MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohhammed Shammi ,Ishnat Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant
The board has handed a Grade 'A' contract to 11 players this time, four more than the previous year.
Grade B (Rs 3 crore)
KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya
The BCCI has also significantly trimmed down Grade 'B' category, with Kuldeep, Ishant, and Shami getting promoted.
Grade C (Rs 1 crore)
Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Raydu, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed, Wriddhiman Saha
Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Parthiv Patel, and Jayant Yadav have been dropped; Ambati Rayudu, Hanuma Vihari, and Khaleel Ahmed have joined (Grade C) the list. (UNI)
