BCCI announces new contract system: Kohli, Bhuvaneshwar in top Rs.7 crore bracket

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) yesterday announced new packages for men and women cricketers. While captain Virat Kohli, batsment Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah have been offered the top A+ bracket, former skipper M.S. Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin and others have been included in A Grade. Cricketers in Grade A+ category will get Rs.7 crore annually while those in Grade A Rs.5 crore. Dhoni and Ashwin have been bracketed in the A category along with Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Wridhhiman Saha. These seven players would be eligible for a contract of Rs.5 crore. The B category will feature K.L. Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma and Dinesh Karthik. In Grade C will be Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav. The domestic match fee structure will also witness an over 200 percent hike in each category, BCCI said. Similarly, junior players have also been included in the new pay structure of BCCI. Dhoni’s demotion to second grade in the new BCCI players pay grade may be because the wicketkeeper-batsman plays only ODIs and T20Is. On the other hand, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who was earlier a  regular in the 50 and 20-over formats, has now also become a consistent performer in Tests. India women cricketers too would get hefty contracts with an addition of Grade C category. Women cricketers in Grade A will get Rs.50 lakh while those in Grade B will be given Rs.30 lakh. Those in Grade C have been offered yearly remuneration of Rs.10 lakh. World Cup stars Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have been kept in the top bracket, under which the annual contract is worth Rs.50 lakh.