Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Dropped from Annual Player Contracts as BCCI Cracks Whip

The BCCI on Wednesday said batter Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan, who were away from the game citing injury and mental fatigue issues, were not considered for the annual contracts as the board announced the Annual Player Contracts for the Indian team for the 2023-24 season.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday said batter Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper-batter Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations as the board revealed the Annual Player Contracts for the Indian team for the 2023-24 season.

"Please not that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations," BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a media statement.

India skipper Rohit Sharma, star batter Virat Kohli, flamboyant all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Jasprit Bumrah have retained their Grade A+ contracts as they have been placed in the highest category of central contracts.

Pacers Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, batters KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and all-rounder Hardik Pandya are handed a Grade A contract. "Additionally, athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis," the statement added.

Wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel and right-hand batter Sarfaraz Khan, having played 2 Test matches so far, will be inducted into Grade C if they participate in the fifth and final Test of the series against England in Dharamsala, starting from March 7.

The Selection Committee has also recommended fast bowling contracts for Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.

"The board has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team," added Shah.

Following the norm of the number of games in a season, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, pacer Umesh Yadav, and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal are no longer part of central contacts. Wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant dropped a grade because of his absence after his accident.

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar lauded the BCCI. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Manjrekar said, "Well done to BCCI for rewarding players who want to play the tough cricket and one for one reason... to face the 'acid test' as cricketers (sic)'.

Cricketers are normally paid Rs seven crore per annum in A plus bracket, Rs five crore in A, Rs three crore in B and Rs one crore in C category, over and above their match fees.

The Central Contract list is as follows:

• Grade A+ (4 Athletes)
  Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
• Grade A (6 Athletes)
  R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
• Grade B (5 Athletes)
  Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
• Grade C (15 Athletes)
  Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.

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