Michael Clarke slams Australian media for ‘tarnishing’ Kohli image
The COA has announced that Grade ‘A’ players would now be getting `2 crore as compared to the earlier `1 crore.
New Delhi, March 22: The BCCI on Wednesday doubled the annual retainership fee of India’s 32 centrally contracted cricketers with current skipper Virat Kohli and former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the `2 crore Grade A bracket along with five others. The COA announced that Grade A players would now be getting `2 crore as compared to the earlier `1 crore, while Grade B and C players will get `1 crore and `50 lakh, respectively. The match fee for Test matches has been hiked to `15 lakh per match from `7.50 lakh earlier, while ODI and T20 Internationals will make them richer by `6 lakh and `3 lakh respectively. All the payments will be in effect from October 1, 2016. The seven cricketers in the top bracket are Dhoni, Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Murali Vijay. While seniors like Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra have found place in Grade B and C respectively, the biggest name missing is Suresh Raina, who till recently was a permanent member of the limited overs fixtures.
Young Rishabh Pant is a part of Grade C contract. Raina had in fact played after October 1, 2016 but is not there in the 32-member list. Harbhajan Singh and Gautam Gambhir are not in the list as they have played before the said date, from which the contracts are to come into effect. The decision was taken in consultation with the national selection committee. Meanwhile, Sandhya Rajesh Sawant, wife of Late Rajesh Sawant who unfortunately passed away while he was on official assignment with the India Under-19 team, was handed a cheque of `15 lakhs, in recognition of his services to Indian Cricket.