BCCI drops Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav from Grade A central contract; Hardik Pandya earns promotion

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a part of the Grade B category now
Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a part of the Grade B category now

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the central contracts list for the 2020-21 (October 2020 to September 2021) season.

In an interesting development, the board has dropped Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav from the Grade 'A' category, whereas all-rounder Hardik Pandya has received promotion from Grade 'B' to Grade 'A'.

Every year, the BCCI announces their annual player retainership for the Indian cricket team. There are multiple categories in the central contract.

The highest level is Grade 'A+', where the BCCI pays the cricketers an annual salary of INR 7 crore. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah have retained their places in that category.

Grade 'A' contracted players have an annual salary of INR 5 crore. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Rishabh Pant have retained their places in that slab.

However, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav have been dropped while Hardik Pandya has entered this category.

The Grade 'B' category has a salary of INR 3 crore. It features Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav and Mayank Agarwal from previous central contracts. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has joined the trio, whereas Shardul Thakur has gained promotion.

BCCI has dropped Yuzvendra Chahal from Grade 'B' to Grade 'C', with an annual retainership fee of INR 1 crore. Even Kuldeep Yadav features in the same section.

BCCI awards central contracts to Mohammed Siraj, Axar Patel

Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj were excellent for India in Tests
Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj were excellent for India in Tests

Courtesy of their brilliant performances in Test cricket, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj have secured a Grade 'C' central contract from BCCI.

Shubman Gill was also awarded a contract, while Navdeep Saini, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Washington Sundar and Hanuma Vihari retained their spots.

Unfortunately, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav missed out on a central contract from the BCCI this season.

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Edited by Arjun Panchadar