Aakash Chopra explains why Saha, Ishant fall in Grade C in BCCI contracts despite being dropped

When India's Test squad was announced for the ongoing home series versus Sri Lanka, a lot of changes came into place with many senior players being shown the door. The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha were dropped as the BCCI selectors stressed on focusing on younger breed of players for grooming them in the purest format.

Despite being dropped, the doors have not been shut for Pujara and Rahane as per chief selector Chetan Sharma's statement. However, the duo have been demoted to Grade B, from Grade A, category in BCCI's central contracts list. On the other hand, Ishant and Saha are out-of-favour and it seems the two won't be in the scheme of things for Team India going forward. While Saha has been told that Rishabh Pant and KS Bharat will be preferred for the keeper's slot in whites, Ishant's future also looks gloomy.

Even though Ishant-Saha are out of contention, at least for now, they feature in BCCI contracts list. Former Indian opener-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra explained why the pair have a central contract.

"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 hisYouTubechannel.

"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," he opined.

Chopra further added, "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."

For the unversed, BCCI'shas four categories -- A+ which has annual remuneration of INR 7 crore (INR 70 million) while A, B and C categories are valued at INR 5 crore (INR 50 million), INR 3 crore (30 million) and INR 1 crore (10 crore) respectively. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah remain the highest earners whereas the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Md Siraj and Axar Patel have been promoted. In addition, Suryakumar Yadav is the only new entrant in the central contracts.