The BCCI contract list 2021-22 and Indian cricket players salary and grade list have been revealed with several key changes as on March 3rd 2022
Former Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and India’s designated Test No. 3, Cheteshwar Pujara, have been demoted from Grade A (Rs 5 crore) to Grade B (Rs 3 crore). Fast bowler Ishant Sharma, who has also lost his place in the Indian Test side, is another player who’s moved down a grade, from A to B.
Hardik Pandya, who asked to not be considered for national selection after the T20 World Cup 2021, has been moved from Grade A to Grade C, whose annual retainer is Rs 1 crore. Shikhar Dhawan, who is now being considered only for ODI selection, has also moved down from Grade A to Grade C. The demotions mean the duo has taken a 80 per cent hit to their annual retainer salaries.
Provided below are the full details of the Indian cricket player salaries and their grades for 2021-22:
Grade | Grade A+ (3) | Grade A (5) | Grade B (7) | Grade C (12) |
Retainer amount (fee) | Rs 7 crores | Rs 5 crores | Rs 3 crores | Rs 1 crore |
Contracted players | Virat Kohli | R Ashwin | Ajinkya Rahane | Deepak Chahar |
Rohit Sharma | Ravindra Jadeja | Cheteshwar Pujara | Hardik Pandya |
Jasprit Bumrah | KL Rahul | Ishant Sharma | Shikhar Dhawan |
| Mohammed Shami | Shardul Thakur | Yuzvendra Chahal |
| Rishabh Pant | Shreyas Iyer | Shubman Gill |
| | Axar Patel | Washington Sundar |
| | Mohammed Siraj | Hanuma Vihari |
| | | Umesh Yadav |
| | | Bhuvneshwar Kumar |
| | | Wriddhiman Saha |
| | | Mayank Agarwal |
| | | Suryakumar Yadav |
| | | |
It means, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah remain the only three Grade A+ (the most lucrative with an annual retainer of Rs 7 crore) centrally-contracted players.
The Grade A contract list has been pruned from ten to five players: KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj have been promoted from Grade C to Grade B of the BCCI contract list 2021-22, earning a 200 per cent increase in their annual retainer amounts from the previous year.
Wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, whose future is unclear after being told the team management has decided to move on and look at a younger wicketkeeper as second-choice to Pant, has moved down from Grade B to Grade C. Mayank Agarwal, who held a Grade B contract last year, has also moved down to Grade C.
Seamers Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who previously held Grade B contracts, have been demoted to Grade C.
Kuldeep Yadav and Navdeep Saini, who haven’t met the minimum criteria of either three Tests or eight ODIs or ten T20Is in a season, have lost their BCCI central contracts (they were previously part of Grade C) altogether. Suryakumar Yadav, who has been a regular part of India’s white-ball squads and XIs in the last season, has earned a Grade C contract.
The annual retainerships are decided by the BCCI president, secretary and the chairman of the national selection panel.
With all the promotions, demotions and removals from the BCCI contract list, the number of centrally-contracted Indian players has come down to 27 from 28.
List down your thoughts on whom do you think deserves to be in GRADE A+ and how doesn't deserve their respective gradings.