BCCI central contracts: Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues promoted to B category; Shikha Pandey dropped

BCCI have promoted wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues to Category ‘B’ in the central contracts for the 2022-23 season while dropping Shikha Pandey and Taniya Bhatia. The contract period runs from October to September. For Category ‘A’, the board has kept only three players: skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, star batter Smriti Mandhana and all-rounder Deepti Sharma. Those in ‘A’ category get paid Rs 50 lakh over and above match fees, while those in B and C get Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively. Also Read | BCCI's pay equality laudable, but better and more contracts is the real deal While all three senior players are retained in the highest category, spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has been dropped to the B category. Leg spinner Poonam Yadav, who was in the A category last year, has not been offered a central contract at all. She last played for the national team in March 2022. Veteran pacer Shikha Pandey who was included in the squad for the T20 World Cup in South Africa, finds herself without a contract as does wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia. Seamer Renuka Thakur has been included in the B category while being out of an annual contract last year. New entrants in Category C are: pacer Meghna Singh, batter Devika Vaidya, opener S Meghana, Radha Yadav, left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani and batter Yastika Bhatia. Harleen Deol and Sneh Rana remain in the lowest category while injury-prone all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has been dropped to C category from B. The BCCI, which announced equal pay for women cricketers last year, has kept the number of contracted to 17. BCCI Women’s Central Contracts Category A: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma. Category B: Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Category C: Meghna Singh, Devika Vaidya, S Meghana, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol and Yastika Bhatia. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.