On Thursday, BCCI announced the central contract list. The contracts were divided into four parts and a total of 28 players were in the list. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah Retained their top brackets of ICC contracts. Even after having an injury-hit season, Hardik Pandya was promoted to Grade A by BCCI. Eyebrows were raised when Ravindra Jadeja was not included in the Grade A+ contract list.
Ravindra Jadeja has been representing the country for a very long time in all three formats. He has also been one of the best players for the country in the limited format over the course of the last three years. Jadeja played a huge role in India’s historical test Series victory over Australia in Australia. He was excellent with both bat and ball.
Disgrace … he should be on a the biggest behind Virat … https://t.co/vx3IqqAYJZ
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 16, 2021
Even in the last edition of IPL, his form was the only positive in the Chennai camp. He established himself as a finisher and justified that tag on the international stage as well. During the tour of Australia, Jadeja also excelled in the white-ball series with bat and bowl. Former Chief Selector told Cricbuzz that he was surprised by not seeing Jadeja on the list.
“Jadeja is a genuine A+ candidate. Those who play all formats and have good ICC rankings are included in the list. I cannot see any reason why he was not considered for A + Grade.”
Prasad backs Pant to move into A+ category
Prasad believes that Rishabh Pant will soon move into category A+ in central contracts of BCCI. Pant is currently in A Grade after delivering strong performances for India across all formats. He was the top scorer for India in the Test series against Australia. During the test series against England, Pant notched up his first century in home conditions.
The Southpaw also impressed on his return to the ODI and T-20 team. It does feel like Pant has now become a multi-format player for India. Pant is currently gaining experience of captaincy at Delhi Capitals after first-choice captain Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the entire season due to a shoulder injury.