On Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the annual player contracts for the 2023-2024 season. The list includes 30 names, such as Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, among others. These cricketers have been divided into four categories based on their performances and skills — Grade A+, Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C.
The board made a shocking move by excluding Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the list, despite them featuring in India’s ODI World Cup campaign in 2023. The decision comes shortly after the board and its secretary Jay Shah requested all centrally contracted Indian cricketers to participate in domestic red-ball cricket whenever available or when asked to do so by the selection committee.
Indian opener Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul have been promoted from Grade B to Grade A and will now earn an annual salary of Rs 5 crore. Scroll down to find out which Indian cricketers will earn the most from these annual contracts, new additions, and exclusions.
BCCI annual contracts 2023-2024: Virat Kohli to earn Rs 7 crore, Shreyas Iyer & Ishan Kishan dropped, Shubman Gill promoted, new additions and more
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and pacer Jasprit Bumrah have been retained in the elite bracket (Grade A+). Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been handed a Grade B contract. Talented players such as Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, and Jitesh Sharma have been awarded with Grade C contracts. Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan can also receive their maiden BCCI contracts if they are included in the upcoming fifth and final Test against England in Dharamsala.
FULL LIST:
Grade A+
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Grade A
R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya.
Grade B
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel.
Grade C
Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, and Arshdeep Singh.
Exclusions
Apart from Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, these cricketers were also excluded from the list: Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Hooda.
