Ajinkya Rahane

Slipping down to B category, worth Rs 50 lakh annually, was batsman Suresh Raina, whose name was inadvertently omitted on the BCCI's website before the Board issued a clarification. 

Poll

Who will win the Punjab Elections?

BJP 32.86%

AAP 41.43%

INC 25.71%

Submit

View All In Poll

Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was not in the contracted player-list last season, gained a spot in Grade C after being recalled to the Indian squad by the national selectors.

As compared to 2014-15, when 32 players were given contracts, only 26 got the nod for this season.

If a player, who is not in the list of contracted players, plays a minimum of three matches Test/ODI/T20I, he or she will be added in Grade 'C'/Grade 'B', respectively, the BCCI announced.

Suresh Raina

BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said India women cricketers were brought under contract for the first time and will be divided into two grades A and B with salary of Rs.15 lakh and Rs.10 lakh annually.

"I am happy to announce that India women cricketers were brought under contract for the first time and will be divided into two grades," Thakur said.

The list of contracted players: 

Senior men:

Grade A (4) (Rs One Crore): Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahan (4) 

Grade B (10) (Rs 50 lakhs): Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami, Suresh Raina 

Grade C (12) (Rs 25 lakhs): Amit Mishra, Axar Patel, Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Karn Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Lokesh Rahul, Dhawal Kulkarni, Harbhajan Singh, Sreenath Arvind.

Senior women:

Grade A (4) (Rs 15 lakhs): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, MD Thirushkamini.

Grade B (7) (Rs 10 lakhs): Smriti Mandana, Rajeswari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bist, Veda Krishnamurthy, Niranjana Nagarajan, Poonam Raut.