The Senior Men's Annual Player Contracts for Team India were released by the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday. The contracts cover the period from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024. The two top members of the Indian cricket squad, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, were noticeably absent from the roster. 'Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,' stated the BCCI.
Suspensions regarding the two being removed from the BCCI contract list were abundant. In the middle of India's Tour of South Africa, Ishan Kishan took a break. Following that, Ishan Kishan was left off the roster for the Test series against England and the home T20I series against Afghanistan.
Rahul Dravid, the head coach of the Indian cricket team, clearly stated that Ishan Kishan needed to play the game to rejoin the squad. He continued to skip Jharkhand's state team's Ranji Trophy matches, though.
Due to a back ailment, Shreyas Iyer had to miss a Mumbai Ranji Trophy match. According to a Times of India story, the two would no longer be included on the BCCI contracts list. 'Kishan and Iyer are likely to be excluded from that list, as both haven't been playing domestic cricket despite the BCCI's diktat to do so,' a person familiar with the matter told the newspaper.
A+ is the highest category, and among the other players, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja were ranked. There are six players in the A category: R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya.
Moreover, athletes who fulfil the requirement of participating in a minimum of three Tests, eight ODIs, or ten Twenty20 Internationals during the designated timeframe will be immediately added to Grade C on a pro-rata basis. For example, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, who have played two Test matches each, would be promoted to Grade C if they play in the next Dharamsala Test Match, which is the fifth Test in the series against England, according to a BCCI statement.
'Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Vidwath Kaverappa have all been recommended for Fast Bowling contracts by the Selection Committee.
'The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.'
| Grade | Players |
|---|---|
| A+ | Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja |
| A | R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya |
| B | Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal |
| C | 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, Rajat Patidar |
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