'Indispensible' MS Dhoni missing from BCCI 2019-20 contract list

Mumbai, Jan 16:  The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the mens contract for 2019-20 and the major omission was former skipper M.S. Dhoni.

India skipper Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma were named in the 'A+' grade, which means they will pocket Rs 7 crore each.

The other categories are 'A', 'B' and 'C' and will see players pocket Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively.

According to a BCCI statement, the period from October 2019 to September 2020 has Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah in the Grade A+ category like the last cycle. However, Dhoni, who was in the Rs 5 crore 'A' category bracket, is missing.

The 38-year-old has been on a break from the game since India's World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand last year.

Speaking to IANS, India head coach Ravi Shastri had said that they will wait till the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 to take a call on Dhoni.

Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant has kept his place in the grade 'A' bracket, despite his inconsistent performances.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been injured for long spells and is currently continuing his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru after a successful sports hernia surgery, is also in the same bracket.

K.L. Rahul has also found place in the Rs 5 crore bracket owing to his stellar performances in white-ball cricket.

The other players in the grade 'A' bracket are Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav.

Hardik Pandya, who is also out injured and is on his road to recovery, kept his place in the Rs 3 crore grade 'B' category. Fast bowler Umesh Yadav, wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal are other two in the 'B' category where Test opener Mayank Agarwal is also present.

Category 'C' includes Kedar Jadhav, Navdeep Saini, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Hanuma Vihari, Kedar Jadhav, and Shardul Thakur.