Wriddhiman Saha has recently been demoted to Group C of the BCCI central contracts list. The wicketkeeper-batter garnered headlines for his outburst revealing dressing room conversation with Rahul Dravid, who told Saha in South Africa that he was no longer in the team's scheme of things.
Saha, who has been dropped from the Test team, will still be richer by ₹1 crore after being demoted from group B to C. Along with Saha, Ishant Sharma was also dropped from Grade A to Grade B and the senior pair of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane also faced the demotion.
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Many were surprised to see Saha on the contracted players' list, especially when his future with the Indian team looks bleak at the moment. Former India batter Aakash Chopra explained why out-of-favour Saha and Ishant fetched a contract despite at a time when it looks like the duo might not play for India again.
"Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha's names are also there in BCCI's central contracts. In fact, Ishant Sharma is at 3 crores. Are you wondering why? Why was Saha given a central contract when you have told him that you are not going to select him at all?" said the cricketer-turned-commentator on his YouTube channel.
{{/usCountry}}"Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha's names are also there in BCCI's central contracts. In fact, Ishant Sharma is at 3 crores. Are you wondering why? Why was Saha given a central contract when you have told him that you are not going to select him at all?" said the cricketer-turned-commentator on his YouTube channel.
{{/usCountry}}"It seems Ishant Sharma also has an extremely limited role left in Test cricket, so why is he in the 3-crores contract and not 1 crore? These are things that you wonder?"
"These are the contracts from October 2021 to the upcoming September. That is why Saha has the right. He was India's player in this contract period. He scored runs for India in December, that is why his name is there in this list, same goes for Ishant Sharma, he was playing regularly.
Chopra further predicted Saha and Ishant might not get a contract in the next renewal. "This could possibly be the last contract for Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha. Will you see them playing after October - I am not 100% certain. They have already told Saha and it looks 50-50 for Ishant Sharma as well. I love him to bits but it seems the time has come for his exit," he further said.
The BCCI has four categories -- A which has annual remuneration of ₹7 crore while A, B and C categories are valued at ₹5 crore, ₹3 crore and ₹1 crore respectively.