The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Annual Player Contracts for the Senior Women India Cricket Team on Thursday — here’s the grade-wise list for 2023.
Unlike the contracts for the Senior Men’s Indian Cricket Team, which is divided into four grades, the contracts for the women stars are divided into three categories. The men’s team also has an A-plus grade, which is not kept by the BCCI for the women format, which is divided into A, B and C categories. A total of 17 players have been given contracts.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been placed in the A Grade, along with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. Deepti Sharma has been promoted from Grade B to A this year.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma stay in Grade B. Pace bowler Renuka Singh, who helped India to a silver in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, has been awarded her maiden BCCI contract in Grade B. Richa Ghosh has also earnt a Grade B contract.
Radha Yadav has been demoted from Grade B to Grade C, which also has youngsters such as Yastika Bhatia, Devika Vaidya and S Meghana along with Anjali Sarvani and Sneh Rana.
The biggest omission was Shikha Pandey, who does not feature in the 17 player-list to be handed a contract. She had recently picked up 10 wickets in the Women’s Premier League and also played for India in the Women’s T20 World Cup in February. Poonam Yadav and Punam Raut do not find contracts either, while Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, who both retired in 2023, will no longer be part of the lists.
India Women contracts list 2023
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.
