New Delh: Cheteshwar Pujara’s stellar performance in the ongoing Test series against Australia could get him an upgrade to the topmost A plus bracket in the central contracts as the BCCI is deliberating a relaxation of norms for the dependable No.3. Pujara has so far scored 521 runs in seven innings with three hundreds.
His performance is one of the primary reasons that India are on course for their maiden series win in Australia and the BCCI mandarins are mulling ways to reward his stupendous show. It is learnt that Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai, in all likelihood, will bring up the idea with chairman of selectors MSK Prasad along with the team management (captain Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri).
After the revised pay structure approved in 2018, A plus category players get '7 crore while A category, to which Pujara currently belongs, comes with a pay cheque of Rs 5 crore. The B and C category players get Rs 3 and one crore respectively. The A Plus category comprises skipper Kohli, limited overs deputy Rohit Sharma, all-format pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and senior opener Shikhar Dhawan.
“Pujara’s brilliant performance deserves recognition. The CoA chief will discuss with the team management and the chief selector to check if the rule for all-format specialists in the top bracket can be relaxed,” a senior BCCI official said.
