The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to hand out the central contracts for the upcoming annual year. A handful of stars, who were awarded contracts in the previous year, now are on the verge of missing out, owing to their non-participation in international matches for India. While reports had claimed that the board was waiting for the Champions Trophy to conclude to hand out the contracts after gauging the team’s performance, it is not too long now that the announcement will be made.
Players who can be dropped from BCCI central contracts
Rajat Patidar, Avesh Khan, KS Bharat are some of the players who can be dropped from BCCI central contracts list. The trio were placed in the Grade C category. Despite earning a central contract, Patidar never played a game for India in the previous calendar year. He was the second highest run-getter in the recent edition of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. However, his stellar performance did not earn him a spot in the IND vs ENG T20I series. The RCB captain now stands at the risk of being left out of the BCCI central contracts list.
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Avesh Khan played six T20Is in 2024, managing to take 6 wickets. His last ODI match came in 2023. Given that India have found better pacers across formats of the game, the bowler is likely to be left out of the list this time around. KS Bharat, who last played for India in the Test series against England in 2024, is another player who can potentially be excluded. After all, India’s first-choice keeper in Tests is Rishabh Pant while KL Rahul will serve as the back-up.
Shardul Thakur is another star who stands the chance of being dropped. However, given his consistent performances in Ranji Trophy, he might make his comeback to the Indian side in the upcoming Test series against England in June. Hence, he might just retain his spot in the central contracts list. Apart from the aforementioned players, Ashwin will naturally be excluded as he has announced his retirement from international cricket.
