Till now BCCI has not reached any conclusion on the central contacts of Indian men’s team. The high profile meeting which is being discussed in the media did not take place on Saturday. It is true that the decision has been postponed for now.
It has been learnt from a senior source that all the decisions have been put on hold for the time being. There were reports of a meeting between Ajit Agarkar, Gautam Gambhir and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia in Guwahati. But according to reports, no such meeting was planned on Saturday. This news is just a rumour.
The selection committee has not yet had any formal discussion on the grades of the players. According to reports, the BCCI may take a decision on this issue soon, this decision can be regarding the tenure of the coaching staff or else regarding the grades of the players. The interesting thing is that just a week ago the announcement of annual player retainership for 2024-25 was made.
Indian men’s cricket team coach Gautam Gambhir returned on Friday after spending a holiday abroad, but there is no possibility of him being in Delhi on Saturday. There is no official information available about Ajit Agarkar going to Guwahati, although it has been learnt that selectors can go to Assam to watch the IPL matches. On March 26, there was a clash between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders in Guwahati and a thrilling match between Chennai Super Kings is expected to take place here on Sunday as well.
In the meeting, a detailed review of the performance of the coaching staff of the Indian team will be done. In this meeting, special attention will be paid to the role of two coaching staff of the Indian team. There is a possibility of an update coming soon for cricket fans.
Shreyas Iyer may get an offer of a central contract, because last year he was shown the door for not playing domestic cricket. On the other hand, it is almost confirmed that Ravichandran Ashwin who has retired from international cricket will also be removed from the Grade A contract.
It is considered certain that Varun Chakraborty will get a central contract this time. Varun had given an amazing performance in the Champions Trophy and as a return gift of this, he is made eligible for retainership. As per BCCI rules, any player who plays at least 3 tests, 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is gets a grade C contract. In the last 12 months, Varun has played 4 ODIs and 12 T20Is, that is a total of 18 matches, so it seems that inclusion of his name in the central contract is just a matter of time. Now, only the official contract is awaited.
BCCI is not in the mood for major changes in the central contract. The only thing that can happen is that a little flexibility can be shown in grade C, which had 15 players last year. Last year’s retainership list included a total of 30 players, four players in A+ grade, 6 players in grade A and 5 players in grade B. This time too, major changes are not expected, just a little adjustment is expected.