The head coach and secretary are consulted when the national selection committee prepares the BCCI central contracts.
Following the retirement of T20 format mainstays Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja, there have been rumors of some rejigging in the A+ category due to the BCCI central contracts for men not yet being revealed. Although the women’s central contract list, which contained 16 names in three categories, was made public on Monday, the men’s list, which previously had 30 names, is anticipated to be revealed in the coming days. The retainer price for cricketers in Grade A+ is Rs 7 crore, followed by A, where a player receives Rs 5 crore, while Grade B and C cricketers receive Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively.The national selection committee drafts the central contracts after consulting with the head coach and secretary (Devajit Saikia). The contracts are then presented to the Apex Council for approval.
Not all stakeholders agree on the retention of all senior players in the A+ category, it has been discovered. The highest category contracts were given to Bumrah, Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja the previous season.
A+ is a slot category for players who are automatically selected in all three forms. Jadeja, Rohit, and Kohli have all retired from T20 Internationals, making them two-format players now. Test captain-in-waiting Bumrah is the only player who is confident of every format.But a powerful group within BCCI wants to keep things the way they are in terms of the A+ category.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who has already declared his retirement from international cricket, will not be competing in the A category. Axar Patel, who was recently selected vice-captain of the England T20I series, has a good chance of moving up from Group B to A.
Axar has played 14 Test matches for India thus far and has been a consistent player in both ODIs and T20Is.
With 11 ODIs played this season, Shreyas Iyer, who was benched last season, is sure to return in one of the categories.A player must play three Test matches, eight ODIs, or ten T20Is in a given calendar year in order to be considered for the following season and be added to the central contract list.
Given his potential in a variety of formats, it will be intriguing to observe if young Yashasvi Jaiswal is promoted from his Grade B contract. Bengal speedster Akash Deep, who has participated in seven Test matches, and Sarfaraz Khan, who has participated in three throughout the calendar year, ought to be added to Group C of the new list.
The same is true for Nitish Kumar Reddy, who will be automatically added to the federal contract list after playing the entire Border-Gavaskar series (five Test matches and four Twenty20 Internationals).Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shardul Thakur were on the list from the previous year, however they currently don’t meet the requirements to be on the list. Nonetheless, exceptions may always be made by the selection committee after consulting with the secretary and head coach.
