Mumbai
Amid speculation about former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s future, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday released the long-serving wicketkeeper-batsman from its list of centrally contracted players.
The former captain quit Test cricket in 2014 and has not played for India since taking a break after the team’s semi-finals exit at the 50-overs World Cup in England last year.
Coach Ravi Shastri said earlier this month that Dhoni, who will turn 39 in July, could be considered for this year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
Dinesh Karthik, Khaleel Ahmed and Ambati Rayudu also missed out on a contract. Grade A+ – Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Grade A – Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant Grade B – Wriddhiman Saha, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal Grade C – Kedar Jadhav, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Hanuma Vihari, Shardul Thakur, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar.—Agencies
