New Delhi: Former skippers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma could get demoted in revised central contracts system that has been proposed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Together with pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja Kohli and Rohit are currently part of the top-tier Grade A+ category, which is likely to be discontinued in the proposed new pay structure.
If it gets approved, Kohli and Rohit, who dons the national colours only in ODIs now, would be dropped to Grade B category, reports ANI.
The shake-up has been recommended by Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee and it would be discussed at BCCI’s next apex council meeting, where an outline of the exact financial framework under the revised plan is expected to be worked out.
The present annual retainers set-up has four grades – A+, A, B and C – that operate separately from match fees. Players under Grade A+ get Rs 7 crore per year, Grade A cricketers get Rs 5 crore, Grade B fetches Rs 3 crore while Grade C gets Rs 1 crore.
The selection committee has recommended scrapping of the premium bracket A+ bracket entirely in favour of only three categories: A, B and C.
Since Kohli and Rohit are one-format players after retirements from T20I and Tests, they are likely to be dropped to Grade B though clarity on the monetary changes is awaited.
If this recommended model gets approved, how BCCI recalibrates retainers across grades remains to be seen.
The Board reviews the central contracts list annually and since the next cycle is due in the coming months, it would be up for discussion.
Current list of players in BCCI’s contracts system
A+ Grade: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
A Grade: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant
B Grade: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
C Grade: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana