Smriti, Deepti in top grade of BCCI central contracts

The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday announced the annual player contracts of senior India women’s team for the 2022/23 season, under which captain Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Deepti Sharma are in Grade A, the highest bracket of the contracts. Pacer Renuka Singh and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh are the new entrants in the Grade B division alongside batters Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Meanwhile, Grade C has new additions in fast bowlers Meghna Singh and Anjali Sarvani. The right-left arm fast-bowling duo are alongside allrounders Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Harleen Deol and Devika Vaidya, wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia and right-handed batter Sabbhineni Meghana in Grade C. The retirements of legendary cricketers Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami means they have expectedly been left out from the contracts list. Other notable omissions from the 17-member contract list include veteran pacer Shikha Pandey, who earned a recall during this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, who last played for India in March 2022, as well as wicketkeeper-batter Taniya Bhatia and fast-bowling all-rounder Arundhati Reddy. In its statement, the BCCI didn’t specify the amount of retainers alongside the different grade structures. When the contracts were made public last time, Grade A players earned INR 50 lakhs while Grade B and C players earned INR 30 and 10 lakhs respectively. India’s next international assignment will be a tour of Bangladesh in June for three ODIs and as many T20Is. Previously in this month, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had tweeted that the board will soon issue advertisements for various positions for being in the support staff of the women’s team, while stressing that best coaches will be roped in to help the players realise their full potential and achieve excellence on and off the field.