Mithali demoted to Grade B in BCCI central contracts

NEWDELHI:INDIA women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj, who recently retired from the T20 format, has been dropped to Grade B from A in the BCCI central contracts announced today. Raj is among eight players given Grade B contracts amounting to ~30 lakh retainership. The 37-yearold quit T20 in September last year, but continues to lead the team in ODIS with her sights set on the 2021 World Cup. T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, along with Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav have been given Grade A contracts (~50 lakh). Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia, who had Grade C contracts worth ~10 lakh last year, have now entered Grade B (~30 lakh). Grade A (~50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav.

Grade B (~30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.

Grade C (~10 lakh): Veda Krishnamurthy, Punam Raut, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Shafali Verma.

SHAW MAY BE INCLUDED ON PRO-RATA BASIS

In the senior men’s BCCI central contracts, Prithvi Shaw too did not find a place because he was not eligible for it in terms of number of matches played in a year. Shaw was banned for eight months by Bcci—backdated to March 16—for a doping violation. He resumed playing from November 15, 2019. If he plays one more Test, Shaw will be eligible for a Grade B contract on pro-rata basis. One needs to play a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIS to be eligible for a central contract. He can also get in by playing a stipulated number of T20s.