Dhoni not given BCCI central contract

MS Dhoni, the most successful Indian captain, is the only international captain to have won both the 50 overs World Cup as well as the T20I World Cup. He also led India to the title in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Dhoni has scored 4,876 runs in 90 Test matches for India. His tally of 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57 in 350 ODIS makes him one of India’s best 50-overs cricketers ever. He has featured in 98 T20IS scoring 1,617 runs.

Indian head coach Ravi Shastri had said in a recent interview that Dhoni may soon end his ODI career but could be in contention for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad provided he performs well in the IPL.

News agency IANS quoted an unnamed top BCCI official saying that the central contract has nothing to do with playing for the country and till the time Dhoni announces his retirement, he is free to stake a claim in the team.

“Let’s get the facts right. A contract isn’t the ultimate authority on whether you can play for the country or not. Regular players are given a contract and to be honest, Dhoni hasn’t played for the national team since the 2019 World Cup. So, he wasn’t named in the contract.

“If someone sees this as the end of the road or some hint from the selectors, it isn’t the case,” the official was reported as saying.

Meanwhile, Bumrah, who has taken giant strides over the last year and has become India’s pace spearhead, retains his place in the top tier Category A+ alongside Kohli and Rohit.

In-form top order batsman KL Rahul has been promoted to Grade A from Grade B, despite losing his place in the Test squad.

As many as 27 players have been divided into these four categories.

The likes of Ambati Rayudu, Khaleel Ahmed and Dinesh Karthik have been dropped from the contracts. Test opener Mayank Agarwal has made an impact in the longest format and has been rewarded with a Category B contract. The likes of Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar have been included in the Category C.