The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced the annual retainership contracts for the senior men's team for the 2023-24 season with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja being put in the Grade A category with 7 crore rupees annual retainership. While KL Rahul and Shubman Gill earned promotions, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lost their contracts over their alleged reluctance to play domestic cricket despite directives from the Board. The Apex body of Indian cricket had warned cricketers of severe consequences but Iyer and Ishan chose to ignore the suggestions. Ishan missed the entire Ranji Trophy season for Jharkhand, while Iyer faked back injury to avoid playing in the last league match and the quarter-final for Mumbai. Both are currently playing in the DY Patil T20 tournament.
R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya figure in the Grade A category with 5 crore rupees annual retainership. Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been put in the Grade B category with 3 crore rupees annual retainership.
As 30 players were included in the central contracts list, Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma were among the many new faces included in the central contracts list. The duo was added to the Grade C category on annual retainership of one crore rupees, which includes 15 players. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube, who made strong comebacks to the Indian T20I team, are also a part of this category. Additionally, Jitesh Sharma, who replaced Ishan Kishan in the Indian T20I team, is also included in the 'C' list.
Players meeting specific criteria, such as playing a minimum number of matches (3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is) within the designated period (the 1st of October 2023 to the 30th September, 2024), were automatically included in Grade C contracts on a pro-rata basis.
The selection committee has also recommended Fast Bowling contracts for Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Vidwath Kaverappa.
