The BCCI, in its meeting, announced the name of players who are a part of the Grade A contract for 2015/16. In a very shocking news, India’s ODI sensation Suresh Raina has been demoted to Grade B from the prestigious Grade A.
On the other hand, India’s dependable test batsman Ajinkya Rahane was promoted to Grade A, for his improved performances in all the forms for India. India’s limited overs skipper MS Dhoni, who quit test cricket in December 2014, also finds himself in the Grade A category.
It must be noted that players in the Grade A category are paid INR 1 crore each for the season 2015/16. On the other hand, players in Grade B are paid INR 50 lacks, while Grade C individuals are paid INR 25 lacks.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s name was another exclusion from Grade A. After being a part of the coveted category last year, Kumar finds himself demoted to Grade B after a poor year with the ball. Grade A further consists of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, R. Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane.
Grade A: MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane.
In: Rahane. Out: Suresh Raina, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Grade B: Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami, Suresh Raina.
Grade C: Amit Mishra, Axar Patel, Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Dhawal Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh, S Aravind.