BCCI announces annual contracts for India women's team: Shafali promoted to Grade B, Veda among players dropped

BCCI announced the annual contracts for India women for 2020-21 on Wednesday. Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Poonam Yadav are the only three players in the top bracket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the annual central retainership contracts for India women for 2020-21. The contracts will cover the period from October 2020 to September 2021. A total of 22 players were handed annual contracts by the BCCI last year. However, the list has been downsized to 19 players for 2020-21. The annual contracts for India women have been classified into three categories with the players in the top bracket earning Rs 50 lakh - Grade A - Rs 50 lakh, Grade B - Rs 30 lakh, Grade C - Rs 10 lakh. Only three players have been handed Grade A contracts as the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav have retained their to grades.