BCCI announce annual player retainership for 2023-24, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer DROPPED

Thirty players have been included in the 2023/24 BCCI player retainership, with two more to join after the Dharamshala Test.

BCCI announce annual player retainership for 2023-24, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer DROPPED

The BCCI released the list of retained players of the Indian Cricket Team (Image via ESPN)

On 28th February, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the player retainership for the 2023/24 season. It has 30 players, with many new faces in it. Two players, who were in trouble with the BCCI, have been dropped. 

The Grade A+ contract list has four players, the same as the year before. Grade A has new faces like Mohammed Siraj and Shubman Gill, while Rishabh Pant was dropped to Grade B due to his car accident. Grade B has promotions for Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel. 

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Grade C has exciting new players like Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Mukesh Kumar and Ravi Bishnoi. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who were in the bad books of the BCCI as they refused to play in the Ranji Trophy, were dropped from the central contracts. Senior players like Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav and Cheteshwar Pujara were also excluded from the central contracts. 

Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations. The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team. 
BCCI on Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan

BCCI player retainership for the 2023/24 season: 

  • Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
  • Grade A: R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
  • Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
  • Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.

BCCI introduces contract on Pro Rata basis 

The BCCI has decided to give contracts to players on a Pro Rata basis. If a player plays 3 Tests, 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is, they will be awarded a BCCI contract in the C grade. If Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan play the Dharamshala Test, they will be awarded a contract as it will be their 3rd Test. 

Dhruv Jurel and Safaraz Khan
Dhruv Jurel and Safaraz Khan will be slotted in to Grade C after the Dharamshala Test (Image via ESPN)

Meanwhile, the BCCI has also decided to award five pacers a “Fast Bowling contract”. The bowlers that have been given this contract are Umran Malik, Akash Deep, Yash Dayal, Vidwath Kaverappa and Vijaykumar Vyshak. 

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