BCCI upgrades Rahane, demotes Raina in new contracts
Struggling middle-order batsman Suresh Raina was downgraded to Grade B in the new Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) centrally contracted players for year 2015-16, while batsman Ajinkya Rahane was rewarded for his recent performance with promotion to Grade A on Monday.
Other key team members like ODI skipper MS Dhoni, Test captain Virat Kohli, R Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane were grouped under “Grade A”, while Rohit Sharma was surprisingly put under Grade B alongside Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, etc.
As compared to 2014-15, when 32 players were given contracts, only 26 got the nod for this season.
Slipping down to B category, worth Rs 50 lakh annually, was batsman Suresh Raina, whose name was inadvertently omitted on the BCCI’s website before the Board issued a clarification. He is the only player not playing all three formats in the top grade.
Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were given Grade A contracts, along with Harmanpreet Kaur and MD Thirushkamini.
Grade A (men): MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane.
Grade B (7) (Rs 10 lakhs): Smriti Mandana, Rajeswari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bist, Veda Krishnamurthy, Niranjana Nagarajan, Poonam Raut.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has made a successful comeback to Tests with the Man of the Match award in Mohali, went down from Grade B to Grade C. Another Grade B contract holder, Pragyan Ojha, whose action came under the spotlight before he came back to domestic cricket with corrections, was not given any contract.
No major exclusions in Grade B apart from Kumar’s relegation.
Grade B (INR 50 lakhs): Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami. He joins fellow spinners Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja.
The BCCI also announced the central contract list for the women’s team, with Mithali Raj (skipper), Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur and MD Thirushkamini making it to “Grade A”.