Vinod Rai

Contrary to popular belief that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was relegated from the elite category of central contracts, it was the former skipper himself who wanted an A+ grade for top performers, says CoA chief Vinod Rai. Twenty-six cricketers have been handed central contracts with skipper Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah being included in the R7 crore A+ category. Dhoni is in the A category with R5 crore annual retainership.