BCCI unveils centrally contracted women players’ list for 2019-20 season

It was a piece of happy news for India’s women cricketers on the eve of the Women’s Day as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Thursday the new list of centrally contracted players (October 2018-September 2019) for both the men and women teams. While leg-spinner Poonam Yadav secured the top-most contract (Grade A) along with some big names, youngster Jemimah Rodrigues made a significant gain.

In all, 20 women players got the contract with four in the top-most bracket, five in the second and 11 in the third. The retainer amount across the three grades was not changed. It was Rs 50 lakh for the players in Grade A, Rs 30 lakh for those in Grade B and Rs 10 lakh for those in Grade C. The amounts were, however, far less compared to those in the men’s sections (Rs 7 crore for Grade A+; Rs 5 crore for Grade A; Rs 3 crore for Grade B and Rs 1 crore for Grade C).

In the top grade, the three other players besides Yadav are veteran Mithali Raj, the ODI captain, and a record run-getter; T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur and star batswoman Smriti Mandhana. Yadav, 27, made a cut into the top bracket thanks to her good shows of late. She has got 69 wickets in 48 limited-over games since the beginning of 2018 while her tally of 35 scalps in the T20Is last year was the highest by any bowler in a calendar year in the same format.

Veteran Jhulan Goswami in Grade B

Veteran fast bowler Jhulan Goswami saw herself in Grade B since the 36-year-old now plays only the ODIs after having retired from the T20Is ahead of last year’s World T20 tournament in the Caribbeans.

The other four members of Grade B are spinner Ekta Bisht, fast bowler Shikha Pandey, all-rounder Deepti Sharma and batter Rodrigues who got a promotion from Grade C just over a year after getting her maiden India cap. The teenager averages 31.42 in the T20Is and has a strike rate of 127 plus.

Middle-order batswoman Veda Krishnamurthy and left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad saw a demotion from Grade B to C.

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