The Board of Cricket Council of India (BCCI) has announced the central contract list for Indian women cricketers. Only three women players have managed to earn a Grade A contract in contrast to the five players who earned it last year.
The Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and the all-rounder Deepti Sharma are the three players on the Grade A list. On the other hand, Rajeshwari Gayakwad has dropped to Grade B and Poonam Yadav has missed out on a contract altogether.
Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Thakur have earned a Grade B contract this year. They were previously part of Grade C contracted players. Shafali Verma has again earned a Grade B contract.
Meghna Singh, Devika Vaidya, Sabbineni Meghana, Anjali Sarvani, Radha Yadav and Yastika Bhatia are part of the newly contracted players in the Grade C list.
Here is the full list of BCCI Women Cricketers’ Central Contracts
Grade A: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma
Grade B: Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Grade C: Meghna Singh, Devika Vaidya, Sabbineni Meghana, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia
Last year, BCCI announced that the Indian women players will earn the same amount as the men’s cricketers from their central contracts. A move which was called revolutionary.