MS Dhoni dropped from BCCI annual contract list for 2019-20; KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha promoted

[MenInG]

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the central contracts for the upcoming season and in a big move former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not been given a contract. He was in Category A last season. The payout for all the four categories remains the same, with the trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah in the top category (A+) where they will get a pay out of 7 crore. Dhoni has been out of action since the ICC ODI World Cup where India were knocked out following a loss to New Zealand in the semi-finals. There have been question marks about Dhoni’s future in the Indian team and this move by the board will further raise doubts over the future of the former India captain.

MS Dhoni is the only international captain to have won the 50 overs and the 20 overs World Cup. He also led India to the title in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Dhoni has scored 4876 runs in 90 Test matches for India. His tally of 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57 in 350 ODIs makes him one of India’s best 50-overs cricketer ever. He has featured in 98 T20Is scoring 1617 runs. Head coach Ravi Shastri had said in a recent interview that the legendary captain could soon end his ODI career but could be in contention for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad provided he does well in the IPL.

Jasprit Bumrah has taken giant strides over the last year and has become India’s pace spearhead across all the three formats. He thus retains his place in the top tier along side Kohli and Rohit. In-form top order batsman KL Rahul has been promoted to Grade A from Grade B, despite losing his place in the Test squad.

As many as 27 players have been divided into these four categories, with skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah being the three in the A+ category.

The likes of Ambati Rayudu, Khaleel Ahmed and Dinesh Karthik have been dropped from the contracts. Test opener Mayank Agarwal has made an impact in the longest format and has been rewarded with a Category B contract. The likes of Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar have been included in the Category C.

This is how the BCCI contract stands for the upcoming season:

Category A: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav and Rishabh Pant

Category B: Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal.

Category C: Kedar Jadhav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar

https://www.hindustantimes.com/cric...-to-grade-a/story-hBiqmfdrpwmcD44aFPXjXK.html

 

[Snowflake]

Hmm.. Can anyone tell me why Dhoni hasn't retired yet? What is he playing for now?

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

Wow. One of those brave decisions by BCCI.

If MSD were a Pakistani he would have been give the A+ contract and dragged his career for at least 2 more world cups

PCB can learn from it and this is how you drop dead weight; no matter what legend!

 

[andy0204]

Ab jaake kaleja ko thandak pohchi .

 

[andy0204]

Wow. One of those brave decisions by BCCI.

If MSD were a Pakistani he would have been give the A+ contract and dragged his career for at least 2 more world cups

PCB can learn from it and this is how you drop dead weight; no matter what legend!

He should have retired after 2015 WC.

 

[Mamoon]

Pant in category A. Clearly shows how much BCCI values him, regardless of PPers making threads on how bad he is.

 

[Maliq_Mudasir]

Pant in category A. Clearly shows how much BCCI values him, regardless of PPers making threads on how bad he is.

Still he is a mindless slogger who should have been replaced by the likes of Sanju Samson.

 

[Indiafan]

Still he is a mindless slogger who should have been replaced by the likes of Sanju Samson.

Mindless sluggers dont make 100s in aus and England. Eh has similar stats to Gilchrist and sehwag at this stage. If AB or sehwag had fans like these now, they would be abused too

 

[Waleed93]

Wow. One of those brave decisions by BCCI.

If MSD were a Pakistani he would have been give the A+ contract and dragged his career for at least 2 more world cups

PCB can learn from it and this is how you drop dead weight; no matter what legend!

To be honest, BCCI should have taken this decision way before the 2019 WC.

Dhoni managed to drag his career for quite some time despite being a shadow of himself since 2015.

 

[leatherface58]

Pant in category A. Clearly shows how much BCCI values him, regardless of PPers making threads on how bad he is.

I would have thought PP experts would have got tired of being wrong almost all the time by now. The guy scored tons in Australia and England which no Indian keeper before him has done and he did it all in his first year of test cricket. That alone should be reason enough to keep him around the team even though he has temperamental issues which should get better the more he plays.

 

[leatherface58]

Still he is a mindless slogger who should have been replaced by the likes of Sanju Samson.

You want to replace a guy who scored test tons in Australia and England with a guy who scored 6(2) in a T20? BCCI wants to know your location so they know where not to go next time.

 

[Bewal Express]

Dhoni needs to be palying at the 2023 WC. He could be their Hafeez

 

[andy0204]

Dhoni needs to be palying at the 2023 WC. He could be their Hafeez

Oh bhai nai mangta.

 

[Swashbuckler]

 

[Abdullah719]

MS Dhoni Was Informed Of Contract List Exclusion, Says BCCI Official: Report

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's omission from the central contracts list was imminent and he was duly informed before the national selection committee finalised the names, a top BCCI official told PTI on Thursday. If the former skipper makes it to the T20 International (T20I) squad sometime this year, he might be re-inducted on a pro-rata basis even though chances of that are remote. The 38-year-old double World Cup-winning former India captain's omission from the list was not unexpected as he has not played any international cricket for over six months now.

"Let me clarify that one of the top-most BCCI office-bearers spoke to MS and told him about how they are going about in the central contracts. He was clearly told that since he hasn't played any game in the said period (September 2019 till date), he cannot be included for the time being," the official told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Asked who among BCCI president Sourav Ganguly, secretary Jay Shah and CEO Rahul Johri spoke to Dhoni, the official refused to divulge.

"Let's not get into who spoke. The fact is that a player of his stature needs to be told that he is not being awarded a central contract for the time being and it was done in an appropriate manner," he said.

However, the official said that if Dhoni makes it to the T20 World Cup team in Australia (October 2020, after current contracts' duration ends) or even before that, he can be included on a pro-rata basis.

"There will be an Asia Cup T20 (likely to be shifted from Pakistan) and if Dhoni plays a certain number of matches, he will be automatically included. It's not like he has been dumped for good. It's just that he doesn't qualify because he has not played," the official said.

The existing rule for awarding central contracts is that a player needs to compete in a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs to qualify. He can also get in by playing a stipulated number of T20I games (depending on the season when there are more T20Is).

"Like Washington Sundar has played 21 T20 Internationals and at least more than 10 in the current season and with more T20s this year, he got a contract. Similarly, Wriddhiman (Saha) had a group C contract last year when he was injured.

"To get into group B, currently, you need to play three Tests and he fulfilled the criteria during the home season. Same for Mayank Agarwal. That's how it works," the official explained.

"If Prithvi Shaw is selected in the Indian team and plays just one more Test, he will get a Grade B contract on pro-rata basis," he added.

Asked if Dhoni might announce ODI retirement after this development, the official was evasive.

"That is something only Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows and no one else," he said.

https://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/ms-...t-exclusion-says-bcci-official-report-2165048

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Sad day for conspiracy theorists. Now there should be no excuse for your golden boy Rishabh Pant to start performing.

 

[Thomaskutty]

Finally MS Dhoni is gone.. good riddance. He wasted a crucial spot in the white ball team, for 4 years.

 

[JattMaula]

Doesn't matter in selection. Kaptaan can call in anybody at any time.

 

[CricketDon]

BCCI drop one of the greatest batsman of all time and the greatest finisher of all time. A man who has one India a World Cup a t20 World Cup and a champions trophy cup.

Mean while Pakistan bring in a non qualified coach with no experience, the man who played to 40 odd while destroying our cricket.

The same man bringing back 40 plays year olds Hafeez and malik who have achieved sod all because of “experience”

Wonder why India is number one in ODI and tests, while Pakistan sit at the bottom struggling to beat minnows.


Hmmm

 

[andy0204]

Doesn't matter in selection. Kaptaan can call in anybody at any time.

Yes because spinners needs guidance from Mahi Bhai and it will be heard on stump mic "Dande pe daal,Aage daal".
We need a finisher in low scoring matches during chase and he will make one sided matches into exciting matches and attract the crowds by doing tuk tuk.
Anyone who gets mom will say in the match presentation that Because of Mahi Bhai I deserve this award.

 

[MP2011]

He should have retired after 2015 WC.

Yeah. Even though we qualified for SF in WC '15, Dhoni was way past it during WC '15 itself. Will always remain a mystery to me how come he went on to play next ODI WC as well!!