Rishabh Pant Bags 5 Crore in BCCI Annual Retainers List

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], Mar 8 (ANI): Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant bagged a Grade A contract in the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) annual retainers list.The 21-year-old, who was not part of the contracted players list for the last season, will earn INR 5 crore for the period from October 2018 to September 2019.Since making his Test debut last year in England, Pant amassed 114 in his third Test at The Oval. He then had a successful tour of Australia, where he scored unbeaten 159 in the fourth Test in Sydney. He also set the Indian record for the most catches by a wicket-keeper in a Test in Adelaide.Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan have been demoted from A+ category to A to earn INR 5 crore, joining Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav, all three of whom were promoted from Grade B.The three players to retain their A+ contracts includes the top batsman for Tests and ODIs Virat Kohli, ranked number two in ODIs Rohit Sharma and the top-ranked ODI bowler Jasprit Bumrah.Former skipper MS Dhoni, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja all retained their place in the A category.Ambati Rayudu, Hanuma Vihari and Khaleel Ahmed had to settle into the C category, bagging INR 1 crore. However, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav were left out of the list altogether, along with opener M Vijay, who was in the A category last year but is no longer a centrally-contracted cricketer.Notable players like all-rounder Vijay Shankar and openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal could not find a contract.Shaw made his Test debut with a century against West Indies last year. He was also named for the tour of Australia, however, suffered an injury and had to return home. Agarwal had scored two half-centuries in as many Tests in Australia, while Shankar helped India win the second ODI of the ongoing five-match series against Australia and is pressing his case for World Cup selection.Among India women cricketers, legspinner Poonam Yadav has been awarded a Grade A contract worth INR 50 lakh, joining Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. Yadav was the joint-highest wicket-taker in the ODIs alongside New Zealand’s Leigh Kasperek while topped the wicket charts for 2018 in T20Is.The young 18-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues, who was placed in Grade C, has been promoted to B category to earn INR 30 lakh. Top-ranked bowler in ODIs Jhulan Goswami has been demoted from A to B, while Veda Krishnamurthy’s lean patch in last season resulted in her demotion to C to settle for INR 10 lakh, alongside left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad. (ANI)

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