New Delhi: Teenage sensation Shafali Verma was promoted to grade B in the BCCI’s list of annual contracts on Wednesday, as the cricket board reduced the number of contracted players from 22 to 19.
Grade A offers an annual amount of 50 lakhs, which in turn consists of three players of all formats – the 20-twenty captain Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana and the bowler Poonam Yadav.
Grade B has an annual retention fee of Rs 30 lakh and veterans like Jhulan Goswami, Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma are among the ten players in this series.
‘Shafali is seen as the biggest superstar we will have in the coming years, so it was no surprise that she was promoted to grade B of C. Punam Raut was rewarded for her good performance in the South African series and she also promoted to grade B, ”said a senior BCCI official.
The young Richa Ghosh has been inducted into Grade C, making players 10 lakh richer. It has six cricketers this year, five fewer than last time.
The contracts are for a period from October 2020 to September 2021.
The two notable names that have fallen off the 19-star list are battered Veda Krishnamurthy and left-hander Ekta Bist.
The others, who have been ousted, include Dayalan Hemlatha and spinner Anuja Patil, who appeared on last year’s list.
Source: Telangana Today