On 28 February 2024, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the list of 30 players, who will receive central contracts for the season of 2023-24. There are a total of 11 cricketers in India who received Maiden Central BCCI contracts. This also includes international cricketer Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja have owned the A+ category players of this contract is much thrived news. Whereas, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Siraj have been promoted to the Grade B category. Kuldeep Yadav, who plays as an Indian cricket player is the only player, who has been elevated from Grade C to Grade B.
With this, Rishab Pant, who plays as a wicket-keeper batter for the Indian cricket team, has been demoted to Grade B. This demotion owing to his lack of the game. Also, because of Axar Patel’s performance in the last few matches, he has been demoted from Grade B to Grade C.
However, Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Hooda, Ishan Kisan, Shreyas Iyer, and Yuzvendra Chahal are the players, who lost central contracts. There were 11 new players on the BCCI central contract. Below is a list of 11 new players, who earned the Central BCCI contract for the first time.
List of 11 Players Who Got Maiden BCCI Central Contracts for 2023-24
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal is an International Indian Cricket team player, who plays for the Indian cricket team. He owed Maiden BCCI Central Contracts at a young age, a great achievement. Yashasvi Jaiswal secured his place in Grade B with his excellent performance in recent year. His first debut in a test and T20Is format in 2023.
2. Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh has also secured his position in Grade C of the Central Contract for the 2023-24 season. He is a left-handed batsman, with the ability to finish the game. The first debut he made was in the T20I in Ireland last year. He has played a total of 15 T20Is for India, where he scored 356 runs at a strike rate of 176.23.
3. N Tilak Varma
In his Grade C contract, Namboori Thakur Tilak Varma will earn 1 crore plus match fees. In the triumph of India’s U19 World Cup 2020, he came into the limelight for the first time, for his brilliant performance. After this, Mumbai Indians bought him in the IPL 2022 auction. In two seasons, he scored 740 runs with three fifties at a strike rate of 144.53.
4. Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad is considered to be one of the top cricket players in the Indian team. Because of his excellent performance in matches, he has also been placed in class C with other players. The first international debut of Ruturaj Gaikwad for the India cricket team was in July 2021 against Sri Lanka. Ruturaj Gaikwad has so far scored 115 runs in 6 ODIs and 500 runs in 19 T20Is.
5. Shivam Dube
In the Grade C category, Shivam Dube has been placed for the central contract of 2023-24, where his earnings will be 1 crore + match fees. He made his international debut for the India cricket team in November 2019. Shivam Dube has scored 276 runs in 21 T20Is so far and also picked up eight wickets for India. He also gains the title of “Player of the Series” with the match against Afghanistan in T20Is at home.
6. Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi is an Indian international cricket player, who became the No. 1 ranked bowler in T20I. According to his performance in the matches, he has also been placed in Grade C with earnings of 1 crore. Bishnoi has taken 36 wickets with 4/16 as his best figures and an economy of 7.50 in 24 T20Is. Ravi Bishnoi plays for Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL and Gujrat in domestic cricket.
7. Mukesh Kumar
Mukesh Kumar who made his Test debut in July 2023 against West Indies, has placed on Grade C. He has become the third pacer in the Indian team after Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. In his international cricket career, he picked up 24 wickets for India. Mukesh Kumar is also one of the few format fast bowlers in India.
8. Prasidh Krishna
With other Grade C members, Prasidh Krishna is also one of them. He made his Test debut in July 2023 against the West Indies. In the IPL, he plays for the Delhi Capitals and Bengal in domestic cricket. Prasidh Krishna has played two test matches, 17 ODIs, and five T20Is, in which he took a total of 39 wickets, till now. However, because of injuries, his career has been confined. As soon as Prasidh Krishna regained his fitness and rhythm, he became an incredible bowler.
9. Avesh Khan
Avesh Khan is another fast bowler, who has been placed in the Grade C category. He was named to India’s squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in December 2015. He played a total of 20 T20Is and eight ODIs for India and also picked 28 wickets. Avesh Khan has the experience and the qualities that the Indian team management is looking for, therefore, he received a central contract.
10. Rajat Patidar
For Central Contract, Rajat Patidar has been placed in the Grade C category. In the IPL 2022, he came into the spotlight after his fantastic knock for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Additionally, he has also made an enviable domestic record. Rajat Patidar has scored 4063 runs in 58 FC matches and 1985 runs in 58 List-A games. However, he has not performed well in four test matches, as he only scored 63 runs in all four matches.
11. Jitesh Sharma
For the Central Contract for 2023-24, Jitesh Mohan Sharma is placed in the Grade C class. In domestic cricket, he plays for Vidarbha, and for IPL he plays for Punjab Kings. He made his first international debut, on 3 October 2023 against Nepal during the 2022 Asian Games. Jitesh Sharma has played a total of nine T20Is scoring 100 runs at a strike rate of 147.05.
