India T20I cricket team vice-captain Axar Patel is all set to be promoted in the next round of BCCI central contracts. As per reports, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia was scheduled to meet chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir on March 29 to take a call on the matter. However, that meeting was postponed.
Axar, Rohit & Kohli to get boost
As per Times of India, Axar is expected to be promoted from Grade C to Grade B in the BCCI central contracts. The report also states that Test skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are set to be retained in the Grade A+ category. There were speculations of the trio being retained in the top grade after they announced their retirement from T20Is.
“All three will be retained in the top category, along with Jasprit Bumrah,” a source told Times of India.
As per the BCCI’s policy, players who participate in all three formats will be placed in the top grade in the central contracts. However, the trio of Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja, who were recently a part of the ICC Champions Trophy-winning side, are expected to be retained in the top grade despite retiring from T20Is.
BCCI central contracts for 2023/24
Grade A+ (4 Athletes)
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A (6 Athletes)
R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
Grade B (5 Athletes)
Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Grade C (15 Athletes)
Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar
