The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the new contracts for 2021-22. Based on the performance last season, it has seen some shuffling, with players being promoted and demoted, while there are also some debutants in the list.Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya has earned a much-deserved promotion from Grade B to A. While he was the only promotion to Grade A, the only demotion from A was seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, whose prolonged injury miss dropped him to Grade B.
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As for Grade B, pacer Shardul Thakur's unique wicket-taking abilities in pressure situations has been recognised and he has been promoted. Meanwhile, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who was influential in the shortest formats, has seen a slight dip in form and demoted from B to C.
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In the meantime, Grade C has seen a lot of shuffling. Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, going through a dreadful form across formats, has been demoted two grades, from A to C.
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Also, there are three new entrants in Grade C, in the form of Shubman Gill, Axar Patel and Mohammed Siraj. While Gill has become a regular opener for India, especially in Tests, Patel and Siraj are nailing it with their spin and pace, respectively, in the longest format.
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The ones not to be retained are Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav. While Pandey was a Twenty20 specialist, his form with the bat has taken a dip. Jadhav, the veteran all-rounder, has failed with the bat, besides not being utilised as a regular bowler anymore.
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As for the elite grade A+, there has been no change, with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah maintaining their spot. Also, the pay scale for the grades remains the same: A+ (₹7 crore), A (₹5 crore), B (₹3 crore) and C (₹1 crore).
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Complete list of BCCI's contracted players for 2021-22:Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.Grade A: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya.Grade B: Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur and Mayank Agarwal.Grade C: Kuldeep Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj.
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