BCCI: Annual Men’s Player Retainership for 2023–24 announced by Board of Control for Cricket in India: Indian players, with their exceptional performance, forced the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to announce changes in the players’ grade system. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were one of the two biggest omissions from the newly announced annual player contract list for 2023-2024 that was released.
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” BCCI said in its statement.
Iyer was in Grade B while Kishan was in Grade C in the previous year’s retainer.
The highest earnings in the elite class, Grade A+, are still skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja for the entire season.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya remain on Grade A contracts, while KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj and Shubman Gill joined them from Grade B last year.
No. 1 ranked T20I batsman Suryakumar Yadav is part of Grade B and he is joined by young sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal, who has been handed a BCCI central contract for the first time.
Members of India’s T20I battalion like Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi and Jitesh Sharma have been awarded Grade C contracts.
If Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel participate in the last Test match against England at Dharamsala, they may be placed in the Grade C category. Players must participate in at least three Tests, eight ODIs, or ten Twenty20 matches over the allotted time frame in order to meet the requirements for a Grade C contract.
Currently, both Jurel and Sarfaraz have played two Test matches each and if they play in the upcoming fifth Test, they will meet the eligibility criteria to get their first BCCI contract.
Five fast bowlers – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vishak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kawerappa – were recommended by the selection committee for fast bowling contracts.
Annual player retainership for 2023–24 is announced by BCCI
| Grade | Players |
| A+ | Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja |
| A | R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya |
| B | Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal |