Full list of BCCI’s contracted players for 2023; Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel big gainers; KL Rahul demoted

Meanwhile, young cricketers like Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and Deepak Hooda made their entry into the central contracts for the first time. They have been included in Grade C. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has returned to form, also got his contract back by getting into Grade C.

The payment structures for Team India (senior men) are as follows:

The BCCI central contract has four categories in which players under ‘A+’ draw a salary of INR 7 crore. The ‘A’ category players get a remuneration of INR 5 crore, group ‘B’ players draw a salary of INR 3 crore and ‘C’ players INR 1 crore.

Jadeja – who is currently the number one Test all-rounder – has got a big promotion by getting upgraded to the Grade A+ from Grade A. The A+ category, which is the top grade, now features four players i.e. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Jadeja.

Meanwhile, Hardik – who is India’s limited-overs vice-captain – and Axar – a regular member in all three formats – were moved up to Grade A from Grade C and Grade B respectively.

Apart from Hardik and Axar, Grade A features R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami and Rishabh Pant. All these players, except Hardik, play in both white-ball and red-ball formats.

Grade B features players like Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill. While Ajinkya Rahane – who was dropped from the Test format – has lost his central contract. Senior pacer Ishant Sharma also misses out on the central contract.

Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep, Sanju Samson are part of Grade C and will get an annual salary of INR 1 crore.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha, and Mayank Agarwal – who were in Grade C in the previous season – have missed out on the central contract in the 2022-23 season.

Full List of India Players getting a BCCI Annual Central Contract for 2022-23

Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A: Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel

Grade B: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill

Grade C: Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat.