The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the long list of players who have been awarded the ‘Central Contract’ for the season 2022-23. The announcement saw all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as one of the biggest beneficiaries, having been given the A+ contract for his performances across formats. There was a marked demotion as well, with KL Rahul dropping down from A to B. But, there were a number of others too who have completely been left out of the list.
The likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Deepak Chahar, and Hanuma Vihari have been left entirely out of contract. Of these, the likes of Saha, Ishant, and Rahane are no longer in the scheme of things. Bhuvneshwar did play a few limited-overs encounters in the recent past but some other players seem to have overtaken him in the pecking order.
Deepak Chahar is still considered a top talent but his injury issues have prevented him from becoming a central part of India’s pace attack. Hanuma Vihari, who has been an important squad player for India in Tests, also seems to be down in the pecking order now.
As far as the current list goes, the likes of Deepak Hooda, KS Bharat, and Arshdeep Singh are some of the names who have earned a deserved inclusion in the Grade C category. There, however, remains a surprise name too which is Shikhar Dhawan.
The opening batter was only playing ODIs for the Indian team and seems to have lost that place to Shubman Gill. But, the fact that he remains in the Grade C category shows that the BCCI still has him in the scheme of things.
BCCI Central Contracts List 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
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