BCCI likely to reward Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana with central contracts

India's T20 specialist Abhishek Sharma (BCCI Photo)

The Indian team's eagerly anticipated core contracts will be announced shortly, and unless there are some shocks, the list shouldn't include many surprises. For select talented players who might not fully qualify for the central retainer-ship, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may grant some exceptions.

Abhishek Sharma, the talented left-handed batsman for Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), might be at the top of the list. He is among the best cricket players in the T20 format, making him a hot property in the ongoing IPL. It is anticipated that he will be placed in Grade C, which guarantees an annual retainer-ship of Rs 1 crore.

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According to the usual BCCI guideline, "athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis." Abhishek has played in 12 Twenty20 Internationals during the allotted time frame, which is typically from October to September, and has appeared in 17 T20Is overall.

In addition to Abhishek (24), Nitish Reddy is vying for a spot on the central contracts list. With five Test matches and four Twenty20 Internationals under his belt, the 21-year-old Andhra all-rounder ought to be on the list because he has completed the necessary amount of Test matches. For the record, he participated in all five Test matches in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series Down Under.

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The possibility of Harshit Rana being included is also present. Despite having participated in two Test matches, five ODIs, and one T20I, Rana does not meet the requirements in any of the three formats on its own. However, his total number of games played qualifies him for the list.

As reported previously, Shreyas Iyer, who was one of the standout players in the recently concluded Champions Trophy, and Varun Chakaravarthy (four ODIs and eighteen T20Is) can also find their names in the list.

Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma will all remain in the A+ category, and it is unlikely that the gradings will move much — give or take two or three names.

In a few days, the contracts and the modifications to the Indian teams' support staff should be revealed. It is believed that the choices were made not long ago.