BCCI annual contracts: Shafali retained in Grade B; Patil, Reddy among new entrants

Shafali Verma finds a place in BCCI's annual retainers for 2024-25 despite having last played for the national team in October. Shafali has been placed in Grade B, whose retainer is valued at INR 30 lakh.

The BCCI has awarded 16 contracts in all from the 17 they announced previously in April 2023. Contracts for the 2023-24 season weren't made public.

Like last time, only three players - Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma - have been offered Grade A contracts (50 lakh). Four of the five members, including Shafali, who were offered Grade B in 2023 remain on the list, with only left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad missing out altogether.

Among the new entrants to Grade C (10 lakh) are offspinning allrounder Shreyanka Patil, seam-bowling pair of Arundhati Reddy and Titas Sadhu, allrounder Amanjot Kaur and wicketkeeper Uma Chetry.

Allrounders Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar, who hasn't played since the T20 World Cup in October last year, retained their Grade C retainers. Vastrakar continues to recover from a long-standing back injury that also forced her out of WPL 2025, while Rana hasn't played for the national team since 2023. Yastika Bhatia too retains her spot despite having battled form and fitness concerns over the past year.

Batters Harleen Deol and Pratika Rawal, and legspinner Priya Mishra are among the notable absentees. Deol returned from a long injury layoff to smash her maiden international century during the home ODIs against West Indies in January, while Rawal made a strong start to her international career.

No woman has scored more in her first six innings than the 444 runs Rawal has made. Mishra, meanwhile, has featured in every single squad since making her ODI debut against New Zealand in October, and was one of the breakout Indian players at WPL 2025.

The list, recommended by the women's senior selection panel chaired by Neetu David and head coach Amol Muzumdar, is for a 12-month duration from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.

India is next set to play ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka, also featuring South Africa, in April followed by a tour of England in the summer as part of their FTP calendar, in the run-up to the 50-over World Cup they're slated to host in September.

In: Shreyanka Patil, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Uma Chetry, Amanjot Kaur

Out: Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Meghna Singh, Devika Vaidya, S Meghana, Anjali Sarvani