Mumbai, March 3 : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday promoted young all-rounder Deepti Sharma and veteran spinner Rajeshwari Gaikwad in Grade A in central contracts for the 2021-22 season. Sneh Rana is the new entrant in the contract. She made it to Grade C on the basis of her consistent performances since returning to the team after five years. Deepti has shown good form and has been promoted to Grade A. Rajeshwari has been included in the top grade in the contract list, which also features Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav. Players included in Grade A will get Rs 50 lakh annually, while Grade B and Grade C players will be given Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh annually respectively. According to Cricbuzz, the BCCI finalised 17 players for annual contracts at its Apex Council meeting held on Wednesday. Pooja Vastrakar was promoted from Grade C to B. She has been consistently performing well for India as an all-rounder and has played a role as a finisher. Skipper Mithali Raj and veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami retained their spot in Grade B. Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey have been demoted to Grade C from B. On the other hand, Mansi Joshi and Radha Yadav, who were part of last year’s 19-player contract list, have not been included in the contract this year. Central Contracts: Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav, Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Tanya Bhatia, Shafali Verma, Pooja Vastrakar Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Poonam Raut, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Sneh Rana BAV MR
