The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may soon release the list of players with central contracts for the next season (2022-23). This time the place in the contract list of Ishant Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Ajinkya Rahane seems to be in danger. These three players have not been in the team for some time now and the BCCI is looking to sideline them completely. At the same time, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya can get promotion. The Board announces the Annual Central Contract (BCCI Central Contract) every year between January and April. This time this decision will be taken in the Board's Apex Council meeting on 21 December.

Hardik Pandya is being considered as the future captain of India in T20 format. Last time he got demotion in the grade list. He was directly promoted from Grade-A to Grade-C. Now they can be promoted and sent from Grade-C to Grade-B. There will be discussion on 12 agenda in the Apex Council meeting. This meeting will be through video conferencing. India's performance in the ODI series against Bangladesh will not be part of the agenda. However, if BCCI President Roger Binny feels that the matter needs to be discussed, then it will be discussed.

In addition, in a novel gesture, the Apex Council will also ratify a one-time payment for V Jayadevan, whose rain-rule formula has been used in domestic white-ball cricket for over a decade. Internationally, the ICC uses the Duckworth-Lewis Stern rule. Whereas, VJD rule is used in Mushtaq Ali T20, Vijay Hazare Trophy, Deodhar Trophy and Challenger Trophy.

Rahane, Ishant and Wriddhiman, the former vice-captain of the Indian team, can be thrown out of the central contract. Saha was specifically told earlier this year that he would never be selected in the Indian team again. At the same time, Rahane and Ishant are also out of the team for a long time. Rahane played the last Test in January 2022 against South Africa. At the same time, Ishant played the last Test in November 2021 against New Zealand.

A senior BCCI official told news agency PTI that Suryakumar was in Grade-C in the last contract, but this year he may get a gift because of his excellent performance. He may be promoted from Grade-C to Grade-B or may be to Grade-A. Suryakumar is currently on the number one position in the ICC T20 rankings and it is certain to include him in the team in ODIs as well. 

At the same time, Shubman is a regular part of Team India in Tests and ODIs. They can be promoted from Group-C to Grade-B. Apart from this, Ishaan Kishan, who scored a double century in ODIs against Bangladesh, can also be entered in the central contract list. Hardik was out of Team India due to injury after playing the T20 World Cup last year. In such a situation, he was sent from Grade-A to Grade-C. Now he can get promotion. In the last one year, Hardik has impressed one and all with his all-round performances and has put in several match-winning performances. 

BCCI gives four types of grades to the players in the contract list. This includes A+, A, B and C. Each grade has a fixed annual salary. Those with A+ grade get seven crores annually, five crores for A grade, three crores for B grade and one crore rupees for C grade. There are currently three cricketers in Grade-A+. This includes Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jaspreet Bumrah. All three can remain in this category. 

Three officials from the BCCI office, five selectors and the head coach of Team India are present to decide on the grade of the players. In the previous contract, 27 players were kept under contract. However, this time many of these players can be dropped. At the same time, there may be changes in the grades of many.

Could have got to 300, says Ishan Kishan after double century against  Bangladesh | Colors of India

Ishaan Kishan, who scored a double century in ODIs against Bangladesh, can also make an entry in the list.

Grade A+:  Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah.

Grade A:  Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Mohd. Shami, Rishabh Pant.

Grade B:  Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Akshar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj.

Grade C:  Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, Deepak Chahar, Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Suryakumar Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha.