The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has disclosed the new contracts for players for year 2015-16. The major change observed was the downgrade of middle-order batsman Suresh Raina and the promotion of star batsman Ajinkya Rahane.
As per the new contracts, Ajinkya Rahane is rewarded for his recent performances by promoting to Grade A. He was in Grad B in 2014-15.
Left-handed batsman Suresh Raina was in Grade A in 2014-15 but was demoted to Grade B for year 2015-16 due to his poor form. He has not been picked for the Test series against South Africa.
Grade A players to receive Rs 1 Crore annual salary are: Limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Test Skipper Virat Kohli, Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and Ajinkya Rahane.
Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh raina and Mohammad Shami are the players in Grade B to receive Rs 50 lakh per annum.
Amit Mishra, Axar Patel, Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, K.L. Rahul, Dhawal Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh and Sreenath Arvind are Grade C players, who will receive Rs 25 lakh per year.
