Cheteshwar Pujara deserved to be in A-plus bracket: Niranjan Shah

Niranjan Shah has expressed his disappointment at Cheteshwar Pujara‘s exclusion from BCCI‘s top-pay grade. Pujara had a highly successful run in Test cricket last season including the Australia tour where his efforts with the bat saw India claim a historical 2-1 series win.

Only three players have been awarded the A-plus contract which will see them draw a paycheck of INR 7 crore. Pujara has been kept in Grade A in which players are paid INR 5 crore annually.

Shan, a former BCCI secretary said Pujara should have found a place in Grade A+.

“It was disappointing not to see Pujara’s name in A-plus list. It’s highly unfair that Tests are not given importance by the CoA. After enjoying such a fantastic season in international cricket, Pujara deserved to be in the A-plus bracket,” Shah was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

PTI had quoted a BCCI official explaining the reason behind only Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rohit Sharma being awarded the top-grade. The official had said that only those who are a regular across the three formats are considered for Grade A+.

Pujara only represents India in Tests with his last of five ODI appearance coming in June 2014.
Shah also took a swipe at how the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators was running the cricket board. “The way the CoA is running the game in India, the less said the better,” he said.