Dhoni dropped from BCCI’s central contracts list for 2019-20

January 16: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the men’s central contracts for 2019-20 (October 2019 to September 2020) and the major omission was former skipper M.S. Dhoni. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s omission from the central contracts list was imminent and he was duly informed before  the national selection committee finalised the names.

India skipper Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma were named in the ‘A+’ grade, which means they will pocket Rs 7 crore each. The other categories are ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ and will see players pocket Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively. Dhoni was in the A category, which fetches a player Rs 5 crore, until last year.

While Dhoni has not revealed anything about his future, he is very much expected to captain Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 IPL. The 38-year-old has been on a break from the game since India’s World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand last year.

One of the biggest names in Indian cricket, Dhoni led India to two world titles — the 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the 2011 ODI World Cup at home. The veteran has played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20 Internationals for India, accumulating over 17,000 runs and effecting a staggering 829 dismissals behind the stumps.