This is why Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal did not get a BCCI contract

Youngsters Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Vijay Shankar, who have made impression in Tests and limited overs respectively, miss out of contract list as they don't fulfill eligibility criteria

The BCCI has rewarded star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishab Pant with a grade A retainership as the Indian cricket Board announced the annual contracts late on Thursday night. Senior opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has been in terrible form, was demoted Dhawan from the elite A plus category in the latest list of Central Contracts.

Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Vijay Shankar have made impression in Tests and limited overs respectively, but miss out of contract list as they don't fulfill eligibility criteria. According to rules, a player need to play a minimum of three Tests and 8 ODIs to make it to the list. The young players will get a C category contract as soon as they play their next test.

 Dhawan has had dip in form in last six months in ODIs and this is the reason why he has emerged as the notable looser. He was also dropped from the Test squad before the Australia series and has managed to score only two fifties in the last 15 ODIs he played for his country.

The biggest gainer is Pant, who is expected to replace MS Dhoni as the wicketkeeper batsman, once he retires. It is not surprising that the 21-year-old was heavily rewarded by BCCI as he became the first Indian keeper to score Test hundred in England and Australia.

The BCCI handed retainership to 25 cricketers in four groups of A plus (Rs 7 crore), A (Rs 5 crore), B (Rs 3 crore) and C (Rs 1 crore). Last year 26 players were handed contracts.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who also is no longer an all- format certainty, lost out on A plus category. The same logic was applied to Cheteshwar Pujara as he was retained in A category contract.

"Pujara did well in Australia but A plus category is only for those who are excelling in at least two if not three formats. Pujara is only playing one format. Similarly Ishant Sharma plays one format and is in A category," a BCCI official told PTI on condition of anonymity.  Ajinkya Rahane remains in A category while Kuldeep Yadav is also part of second best group.

List of contracted players:

A PLUS: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

A: MS Dhoni, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ajinkya Rahane

B: KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal.

C: Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Khaleel Ahmed, Wriddhiman Saha.