Almost halfway into the new annual retainership cycle, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to even begin discussions about the men’s central contracts for 2024-25.
“We have had some deliberation on the women’s central contracts but the men’s contracts is not on the agenda in the near future,” Devajit Saikia, the BCCI secretary, told Sportstar on Thursday.
This publication also understands that the BCCI office-bearers are informally likely to discuss the central retainer list with chief selector Ajit Agarkar on the sidelines of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) opening tie in Kolkata on Saturday.
The BCCI awards central contacts to men (since 2004-05) and women (2015-16) for the cycle starting in October and ending in September, to maintain the consistency along with its AGM cycle. However, seldom have the annual contracts been officially announced before December.
The last cycle saw the men’s annual retainer list public on February 28, five months into the cycle while the women’s contracts list was never officially announced. Conventionally, the BCCI president, BCCI secretary and chief selector meet to finalise the contracted players’ lists.
Last year, the retainership announcement was highlighted with Shreyas yer and Ishan Kishan not being considered due to ignoring domestic cricket commitments for their respective sides.
BCCI insiders attribute the constant delays over the last few years to the legal issues BCCI found itself in since the 2013 IPL corruption scandal.
The delays have also led to a demand from certain sections of players for the contract cycle to be restructured from April to March.
“With no international cricket commitments for the Indian team in April and May, the gradation can be finalised during the IPL and the players will be more secure at the start of a new international cycle,” said a player, citing anonymity.
This time around, the expected elevation of Jay Shah from the post of BCCI secretary to ICC Chair meant the meeting was not convened in November. Thereafter, with Agarkar being away in Australia with the squad and Saikia taking over as secretary only on January 12, the central contracts’ issue has taken a backseat.