The BCCI being the richest cricket board in the world leaves no one associated with cricket short of money. The Indian cricketers are among the highest paid cricketers in the world. Not only that, few of them are among highest paid athletes in the world as well. The coaches and support staff too are paid exorbitant amounts.
Last home season BCCI doubled the match fees of cricketers looking at the results they were bringing. India became the No.1 test team in the world in October 2016 and is way ahead than other teams. Unlike other boards, the payment structure of BCCI is little different than others.
The Indian cricketers are given yearly contracts in Grade A, Grade B and Grade C. The senior members in the side who have established themselves and continue to be an integral part of the team are given Grade A contracts. The Grade B belongs to those who have played a fair bit of international cricket but haven”t cemented their places across all formats. Grade C is for those who are new on international arena or cricketers who are out of the scheme of things.
– by Atharva Apte
The contract amount of Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C cricketers is 2 crores, 1 Crore, and 50 lakhs respectively.
Players in each Grade:
Grade A (2 crores): Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Ravi Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravi Jadeja
Grade B (1 Crore): Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuvraj Singh
Grade C (50 lakhs): Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Kedar Jadhav, Ashish Nehra, Parthiv Patel, Jayant Yadav, Yuzavendra Chahal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rishab Pant, Mandeep Singh, Shardul Thakur
If a player who is not in central contract plays 3 matches for India then he is inducted into Grade C. Apart from the contract price, every cricketer gets match fees of 15 lakhs for the test, 7 lakh for ODI and 3 lakh for T20I. If a player announces retirement he is automatically omitted from the list.
Changes likely to be made next year:
Next year Rohit Sharma (Grade B), Shikhar Dhawan (Grade C), Hardik Pandya (Grade C) and Bumrah (Grade B) are likely to get promoted by one grade for their good performances this year. Whereas Yuvraj Singh (Grade B), Ishant Sharma (Grade B) in all likelihood might face relegation. Few Grade C cricketers like Ambati Rayudu, Amit Mishra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jayant Yadav, Mandeep Singh who haven”t played for India for a while might miss out.
Senior cricketers like Gambhir, Harbhajan, Irfan and Yusuf Pathan and Raina are currently out of contracts. Their Ranji performances are key in their chances of getting contracts.
– by Atharva Apte