Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant has been handed a Grade A contract by the BCCI's Committee of Administrators (CoA) following the announcement of the annual player retainership for the 2018-19 period. (October 2018 to September 2019).
Pant, whose place in India’s World Cup squad still remains a doubt, missed out on a contract last year but following an instrumental year where he became first Indian wicket-keeper batsman to score Test tons in England and Australia, he has been handed the agreement.
The Grade A contract, which is worth Rs 5 crore, is the second most profitable category after A+. The A+ grade was introduced last year – which featured as many as five players - and is only given to the members who play in all three formats. The category for the upcoming season though has been cut down to just three players.
The committee has made several changes in player contracts from the previous year which sees the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan moving from the A+ to A. Other demotions include Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik dropping to down to Grade C.
The notable promotions though include the bowling trio of Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav, who have moved up to Grade A from Grade C. The new inclusions in Grade C involve Khaleel Ahmed and Hanuma Vihari, while the likes of Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav missed out on a contract. Even Vijay Shankar, who has been a regular feature of the Indian T20 and ODI series off late, has failed to secure a permanent contract.
Here's the entire list of players contracted for the 2018-19 season.
Grade A+ (INR 7 Cr): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A (INR 5 Cr): R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant
Grade B (INR 3 Cr): KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya
Grade C (INR 1 Cr): Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed, Wriddhiman Saha
