BCCI Announces Annual Team India Player Contracts; Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Dropped

Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the list of central contracts for the 2023-24 season. Notably absent from the list are Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, reportedly due to non-compliance with directives regarding participation in the Ranji Trophy.

NEWS 🚨- BCCI announces annual player retainership 2023-24 – Team India (Senior Men) #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/oLpFNLWMJp

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 28, 2024

Leading the Grade A+ category are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Rishabh Pant, recovering from a car crash in December 2022, has been placed in Grade B along with Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been recognized for consistent performances in T20Is and Tests.

New faces Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma have secured Grade C contracts, alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube, who have made strong comebacks to the Indian T20I team. Jitesh Sharma, who replaced Ishan Kishan, also finds a place in this category.

Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, and Shubman Gill, holds a Grade A contract. Hardik Pandya, who led the Indian T20I squad in 2023, also secured a Grade A contract.

Additionally, athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis. For instance, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, having played 2 Test matches so far, will be inducted into Grade C if they participate in the Dharamsala Test Match, i.e., the 5th Test of the ongoing series against England.

The Selection Committee has also recommended Fast Bowling contracts for the following athletes – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.

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 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.