BCCI announces annual contracts for India women's team; Shafali Verma promoted

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, May 19^th 2021, announced the Annual Player Contracts for the Indian Women‘s Cricket team. A total of 19 players have been handed central contracts, which is three lesser than last year’s tally of 22.

The top-grade has been kept unchanged with Indian T20 team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and spinner Poonam Yadav being retained in Grade A, while ODI team’s captain Mithali Raj along with veteran Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma, Punam Raut, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues getting a Grade B contract.

Teenage sensation Shafali Verma, who earned her maiden annual contract last year, has been promoted to Grade B from C as have Punam Raut and Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Meanwhile, Veda Krishnamurthy, Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil and D Hemalatha have lost out on annual contracts for 2020-21.

The contracts for women have been classified into three categories with the players in Grade A receiving Rs 50 lakh, Grade B receiving 30 lakhs, and Grade C 10 lakh. India women have started arriving in Mumbai for their 2-week long quarantine period in the lead up to the England tour.

The tour will kickstart from June 16 and comprises three ODIs, which will be played on June 27, 30, and July 3 at Bristol, Taunton, and Worcester respectively. Both the team will then proceed for as many T20Is, which will be played on July 9, 11, and 15 at Northampton, Hove, and Chelmsford respectively.

Shafali Verma has earned her maiden call up for both Tests and ODI squads, while both Taniya Bhatiya and Shikha Pandey will be making comeback after being ignored for the home series against South Africa earlier this year. Uncapped wicketkeep-batter Inradni Roy has also earned her maiden call-up.

India Women’s Annual Contracts 2020-21

Grade A contracts: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav

Grade B contracts: Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma, Punam Raut, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia, and Jemimah Rodrigues.

Grade C contracts: Mansi Joshi, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, and Richa Ghosh.