3 star players who deserved a Grade A BCCI contract

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the annual contracts for Indian cricketers for the year 2022-23. While the A+ category remained the same as last year, with the elite trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah taking home a retainer fee of ₹7 crores each, there was some signigficant movement in the rest of the contract slabs.

With Indian cricket going through another generational shift, some notable players including Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma were downgraded by the board.

Ajinkya Rahane (L) and Cheteshwar Pujara (R) were demoted to Grade B (Getty Images)

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Like every year, the BCCI has grouped players under four grades based on their performance. Grade A+ category players are paid ₹7 crores, while the Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C players are paid a sum of ₹5 crores, ₹3 crores, and ₹1 crore, respectively.

In this article, we analyze three players who deserved a Grade A contract but failed to make the cut this time around.

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#1 Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur has been a real gem of a find for India (Getty Images)

Shardul Thakur's exploits with both bat and ball are alien to none. In the last few years, Thakur has proved why he deserves to be rated very highly in international cricket.

An all-rounder in every sense, Thakur has has played a crucial role and been instrumental in many of Team India's victories.

If anyone deserves a Grade A contract, it is surely Thakur for his unmatched consistency and reliance. He was, however, retained in Grade B this year and will take home ₹3 crores as his annual retention fee.

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#2 Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer has been in scintillating form (Getty Images)

Shreyas Iyer has been in phenomenal form ever since his return to international cricket after nursing a shoulder injury. He has scored runs across all formats and donned multiple hats for the team with utmost ease. His recent form in the Sri Lanka series was a reflection of the level of talent and potential he brings to the team.

While Iyer was promoted from a Grade C to Grade B contract this year, he probably deserved to be included in the A category. Considering he's now an all-format regular in the Indian set-up, a double promotion for his talent would have given him a lot of confidence going forward

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#3 Mohammed Siraj

Mohammed Siraj's on-field energy is infectious (Getty Images)

It's no secret that Mohammed Siraj is perhaps one of the most energetic bowlers out there in world cricket at the moment. His rise to fame has been a really inspiring story to witness over the last couple of years. Having performed well in various circumstances, Siraj has shown tremendous potential and has really matured as a reliable pacer now.

With veterans like Ishant Sharma slowly moving out of focus in the Test set-up, bowlers like Siraj are important to the team from a future perspective. While he received a well-deserved promotion from Grade C to Grade B this year, Siraj's talent could have been better rewarded by placing him in Grade A.