Irfan Pathan was rewarded for his impressive all-round performance by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, as he was upgraded to Grade A in the new player contracts released in Mumbai on Saturday.
The BCCI handed out central contracts to 15 players this time, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir the latest entrants in the list.
"We have contracted 15 players with eight in grade A, four in grade B and the rest in grade C," BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said.
The contracted players, who have been offered the same retainership as last year, are as follows:
Grade A (Rs 50 lakh retainers): Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Anil Kumble, V V S Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan.
Grade B (Rs 35 lakh): Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Ajit Agarkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Grade C (Rs 20 lakh): Murali Karthik, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan.
Last season 17 players were offered contracts and from that list four players - Akash Chopra, Laxmipathy Balaji, Ashish Nehra and Parthiv Patel - have not made the cut.
The match fees for contracted players as well as non-contracted ones have been enhanced for Tests.
If non-contracted players play five Tests or 15 ODIs during the period he would automatically be absorbed in Grade C and would be paid retainers for the remaining period of the contract on pro-rata basis, Shah said.
The contracts are awarded based on the performance and utility of the player to the Indian team in the new season. If a player is injured during the period of the contract, he will continue to get the retainer for the remaining period.
The new match fees for contracted and non-contracted players are as follows:
Contracted Players:
Tests: Rs 2.50 lakh (Old Rs 2 lakh) (Playing 11)
ODIs: Rs 1.60 lakh (same as last season) (for playing 12 including Super Sub).
The reserves would get 50 per cent of the fees.
Non-Contracted Players:
Tests: Rs 3.20 lakh (Old Rs 2.70 lakh) (for playing 11)
Reserves: Rs 1.60 lakh (Old Rs 1.35 lakh)
ODIs: Rs 2.20 lakh (same as last season) (for playing 11)
Reserves: Rs 1.10 lakh.
The Board secretary said 13 per cent of the gross income of BCCI was to be distributed to the international players (both contracted and non-contracted players).
At the end of the year, excess amount, if any, after making payments for retainers and match fees, would also be distributed to them on the basis of a mutually agreed formula to ensure that the players who were in the eleven ultimately benefit, Shah added.
