BCCI Annual Contract 2022 List : Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, and Chetshwar Pujara Demoted To Lower Grade

Veteran Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara have been demoted to Grade C from Grade A in the BCCI annual contract 2022. 

On 2nd March, BCCI conducted a meeting for Apex Council. Many things were discussed in that meeting, and one of the most important segments was the annual contract of the players. Some massive developments have been caused by the Apex Council of BCCI at the meeting. 

The four categories of the annual contracts are- A+, A, B & C. A categorized players get INR 7 Cr annually, while B, C, and A are supposed to earn 5,3, and 1 Cr for a year. 

Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, the specialist test players were seated in the A category till the previous year, but due to a slump in form and inconsistency have brought them to Grade C in the latest contract. The same goes for Hardik Pandya and opener Shikhar Dhawan. Hardik has become injury prone after the conclusion of the 2019 World Cup, which makes him on and off in the national side. On the other hand, Shikhar has also become inconsistent in the playing xi in T20s and ODIs owing to KL Rahul’s stupendous form in all three formats. This clearly means this player will get INR 1 Cr salary annually. The A category for the 2022-23 year will consist of 5 players- KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja. The reduction of 5 players compared to last year directly means only performers would be rewarded. 

A+ category has remained unchanged for this year too- Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah. 

Indian wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, who recently got dropped from the test side is on Grade C in the latest contract. Regular test opener, Mayank Agarwal has been given the same treatment keeping his form in mind. 

The new member of the Indian Cricket Team, Suryakumar Yadav will be seen rewarded with the Grade C contract. Surya has been phenomenal in recent times for India in both ODI and T20 formats, averaging 53.00 & 39.7. 

BCCI has scrapped the contracts of two players- Navdeep Saini and Kuldeep Yadav. They both have been out of the scene of the Indian team for a while now, so BCCI decided not to renew their salary bond. 

All the reports above are from the source of PTI India.