The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Wednesday, announced the annual contract list comprising of 26 cricketers in four categories. Although the list consisted of predictable names such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya among others, there were two players who for some reason were not named. Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Yadav who have impressed the fans and were part of the team in South Africa have not been given contracts. Thakur had a decent tour of South Africa where he picked up four wickets in his only ODI appearance and followed it with a couple of good performances in the T20Is. As a result, he was selected in the squad for the ongoing Nidahas Trophy.
Iyer, on the other hand, was included in the Indian cricket team for the home series against Sri Lanka in place of Virat Kohli who took leave to get married. The Mumbai batsman had a terrific start to his ODI career by smashing 2 half-centuries in his debut ODI series and booked a seat on the plane to South Africa. Even though Iyer wasn’t selected for the Nidahas Trophy, both the players have been donning the blue jersey for the senior team for past few months in the limited-overs format.
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While Iyer has featured in six ODIs and six T20Is between October 1, 2017, to March 6, 2018, Thakur has played three ODIs and the same number matches in T20 format – the last being in Colombo against Sri Lanka.
The questions have been raised because according to the guidelines set by BCCI, a player who has represented India in the last 12 months, automatically becomes a Grade C retainer. But the duo has not been picked. What is more shocking is the inclusion of spin all-rounder Jayant Yadav who has not played for India since February 2017. The Delhi Delhi Daredevils man has been given a Grade C contract which means that he will be paid Rs 1 crore annually. The inclusion of Ishant Sharma in Grade B also comes as shock as he has been warming the bench for some time, except for the two-Test outings in South Africa.
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Vinod Rai, Committee of Administrators (CoA) head when questioned over this said that the list is made by the selectors and not by CoA. The committee is only responsible for putting the amount and approving it.
Amitabh Choudhary, BCCI’s acting secretary, who is also the convener of the national selection committee, however, claimed that he did not summon any selectors’ meeting on the player contract issue. In a recent interview, Choudhary said that he is not a part of this decision and as far as he knows the cricket body is not involved.
The decision to give revised salaries was taken after Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni had reportedly held a meeting with CoA a few months back and had emphasised on the fact that BCCI should not give contracts to the players who have played just one game or two for the national team.
However, to give Jayant Yadav preference over Shreyas Iyer or Shardul Thakur comes as a surprise.
