Former India skipper MS Dhoni, who hasn’t played an international game since the 2019 World Cup, has been dropped from India’s central contracts list for 2019/20.

Dhoni last played in India’s semi-final defeat to New Zealand, in which he threatened to take the run chase deep before being run out with 24 runs left to win, but has been off the radar since, although he is yet to announce his retirement. His omission will fuel speculation as to whether he has played his last international game.

When asked in November about his future, Dhoni had replied to a journalist saying “January tak mat poocho” [don’t ask until January].

Star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah keeps his place in the A+ contract list alongside all-format captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma despite a recent injury that kept him out of action for four months.

‘Dhoni finishes off in style!’

Captain cool’s World Cup-winning 91* is No.4 on Wisden’s Men’s ODI innings of the decade ?

✍️ @GedeRoshanhttps://t.co/s9WvxWc4Bc

— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 10, 2019

KL Rahul received a bump from the B tier to the A tier, while Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha rose one grade into the B list.

Test opener Mayank Agarwal’s impressive form in the season gone by was recognised with his maiden India contract, with a place in the B list.

The others earning maiden contracts were fast bowlers Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar, spinner Washinton Sundar and batsman Shreyas Iyer. Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu and Khaleel Ahmed were omitted from the contracts list.

The top-most category is worth INR 7 crore, while Grade A players earn INR 5 crore, Grade B INR 3 crore and Grace C contacts get INR 1 crore.

Full list

A+

Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma
Jasprit Bumrah

A

R Ashwin
Ravindra Jadeja
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Cheteshwar Pujara
Ajinkya Rahane
KL Rahul
Shikhar Dhawan
Mohammed Shami
Ishant Sharma
Kuldeep Yadav
Rishabh Pant

B

Wriddhiman Saha
Umesh Yadav
Yuzvendra Chahal
Hardik Pandya
Mayank Agarwal

C

Kedar Jadhav
Navdeep Saini
Deepak Chahar
Manish Pandey
Hanuma Vihari
Shardul Thakur
Shreyas Iyer
Washinton Sundar