Ajit Karn
Ravindra Jadeja, an all-rounder for Team India and Chennai Super Kings, has made a sensational return from an injury that forced him to miss the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Jadeja was named ‘Player of the Match’ in the first two Tests of the four-match series against Australia and was instrumental in Rohit Sharma’s team securing a 2-1 victory to advance to the World Test Championships Final. In the annual retainership contracts announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday (March 26) night, Jadeja was elevated to the A+ category – Rs 7 crore contract – which was only occupied by Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Axar Patel, another all-rounder, was also promoted in the BCCI retainership, moving up to the ‘A’ category with a Rs 5 crore contract. After a series of poor performances, Team India opener and Lucknow Super Giants captain KL Rahul was demoted to Grade ‘B’ and given a Rs 3 crore contract.
BCCI awarded retainership to 26 cricketers in four groups: A plus (Rs 7 crore), A (Rs 5 crore), B (Rs 3 crore), and C (Rs 2 crore). Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, and Ishant Sharma did not receive a contract. (Rs 1 crore). The three veteran players have been removed from the contract list, indicating that they are no longer in consideration for the national team.
Axar, an all-rounder for the Delhi Capitals, was promoted to the A category, while wicketkeeper batter KS Bharat received his first central contract after being added to Group ‘C’.
In addition to Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami, Team India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant, who is recuperating from injuries sustained in a horrific car accident in December of last year, remains in the ‘A’ category. Group B consisted of six cricketers: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar yadav, and Shubman Gill.
Group C consists of eleven cricketers, including Bharat: Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson, and Arshdeep Singh.
The elite ‘A plus’ category consists of players who are certain candidates for all three formats, whereas ‘A’ includes cricketers who are certainties for Tests and one-day internationals. Group B players are considered for limited-over cricket, whereas Group C players are routinely considered for one of the three formats.
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Here are the BCCI Contracts for season 2022-23…
A+ category: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja
Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant, and Axar Patel comprise a category.
B category: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill
C category: Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat
