Why Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Received Drastic 'Grade B' Demotion In BCCI Central Contract List - Explained

Senior superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were on expected lines downgraded to group B of the latest annual central contract awarded by the BCCI which also abolished the prevailing A+ category carrying a retainership fee of Rs 7 crore. The BCCI on Monday awarded central contract to 30 men and 21 women cricketers classified in group A, B and C. The cycle for new central contract is based on performance and volume of games played during the preceding season.

Two-format skipper Shubman Gill along with senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah and premier Test all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were retained in group A.

However, the BCCI didn't mention the quantum of retainership fees for the three categories. With A+ being done away, in the earlier seasons, group A was valued at Rs 5 crore, group B at Rs 3 crore annually, and group C at Rs 1 crore.

As far as Kohli and Rohit are concerned, their retirement from Tests and T20Is effectively makes them one-format players and hence as per criteria, they couldn't have been retained in the top-most category.

It is understood that A+ was a gradation that was introduced by the erstwhile Committee of Administrators (COA) at the behest of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It was meant for excellence across three formats and all these years, only four people qualified -- Kohli, Rohit, Jadeja and Bumrah -- in that category.

Jemimah upgraded to group A

While skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana retained their top billing in the women's list, India's World Cup star Jemimah Rodrigues got a promotion from group B to A for her stellar semi-final show against Australia.

Sneh Rana has also got a promotion and is now in group B along with Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh Thakur.

There were 13 cricketers in group C. As of now, women's central contract retainership fees are Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively. 

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Topics mentioned in this article

Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma Cricket BCCI India Cricket Team