Dhawan anticipated to be removed from top category of Central Contracts; Pant enters A category

Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, in all likelihood, has been dropped from the top most category of the latest Central Contracts list for India players, while young Rishabh Pant was rewarded with an entry into the A category. The BCCI has not released the list officially as three CoA members have not yet signed.

The Elite list is set to comprise only three players ---skipper Virat Kohli, his limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. Dhawan, who is no longer a part of the Test set-up and had a poor last three months in limited overs format, has been reportedly demoted from A plus to A category.

The A plus category players get a yearly retainer fee of Rs 7 crore, while A category players get richer by Rs 5 crore. It has been learnt that along with Dhawan, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has also fallen off the radar as an all format player, is also not in the elite list.

Pant, the young wicketkeeper batsman, has been rewarded for his good show in Test cricket and has jumped directly into A group after being ignored last year. Pant has been rewarded for his hundreds in England and Australia and he is ready to take on the mantle from Mahendra Singh Dhoni once he retires from limited overs.

Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul continue to remain in B category. Cheteshwar Pujara despite his stupendous show in Australia remained in A category since he is only one format player.

(With inputs from agencies.)