New Delhi, Apr 27: Young wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues have been elevated to B category in the BCCI central contracts for the 2022-23 season, while the likes of Shikha Pandey and Taniya Bhatia have been dropped. The contract period runs from October to September, but the BCCI made the announcement on Thursday. A player in the A category gets paid Rs 50 lakh over and above match fees and Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh are allotted for B and C categories respectively. The board has kept only three players in the highest category and they include skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, star batter Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Deepti Sharma. International Cricket Stars Involved in Informal Talks With IPL Team Owners for Long-Term Franchise Over Country Contracts: Reports.

All three have been retained in the same category, while spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has been demoted to B category. Leg spinner Poonam Yadav, who was in the A category last year, doesn't have a contract at all after falling in the pecking order. She last played for India in March 2022. Veteran pacer Shikha Pandey, who had made a surprise comeback for the T20 World Cup in South Africa, finds herself without a contract and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia. Pacer Renuka Thakur, who did not have a contract last year, has been bracketed straight into the B category after a stellar season. Indian Women’s Cricketers Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar Attend RCB vs KKR IPL 2023 Match At M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues have moved up from C to B category. New entrants in Category C include pacer Meghna Singh, batter Devika Vaidya, opener S Meghana, Radha Yadav, left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani and batter Yastika Bhatia. Harleen Deol and Sneh Rana remain in the lowest category while injury-prone all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has been demoted to C from B.

The BCCI, which announced equal pay for women cricketers last year, has kept the number of contracts to 17.

The full list:

Category A: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandha and Deepti Sharma.

Category B: Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

Category C: Meghna Singh, Devika Vaidya, S Meghana, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol and Yastika Bhatia.

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