Mithali demoted in central contracts for women

Mumbai : There were a lot of surprises in the BCCI central contracts for the men and women cricketers as not only M.S. Dhoni was missing from the list but also ace woman cricketer Mithali Raj was demoted to Grade B from A.

Mithali, 37, had retired from T20s in September 2019. However, she remains the ODI captain and is likely to play for the national team till next year's World Cup.

Meanwhile, T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained her A category contract along with star opener Smriti Mandhana and spinner Poonam Yadav.

On the other hand, Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia, who both were in the Grade C bracket till last year, have now been promoted to Grade B (Rs 30 lakh).

Also, young batting sensation Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol, also made their debut in the central contracts as they find a place in the Grade C category of Rs 10 lakh each.

Right-handed batswoman Mona Meshram, who was in Grade C last year, has been dropped from the contract charts. The contract, which runs from October 2019 to September 2020, has been divided into three grades - A, B and C.