Biggest ever salary hike

• Dhoni, Ashwin relegated from top-bracket

• Mithali, Harman in top category
The women players too received a salary hike, for the first time since 2015. The top category Grade A contract value has been raised from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. Grade B contract fee has been increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, and a Grade C worth Rs 10 lakh annually has been created.
Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and Harmanpreet Kaur have retained their Grade A contracts, while Smriti Mandhana has been moved from Grade B to Grade A. There are six players in Grade B. Mumbai teenager Jemimah Rodrigues has joined Mona Meshram and Punam Raut, among others, in Grade C.
• Shami’s contract withheld amid allegations of domestic trouble
Mohammad Shami’s name has been withheld from the official BCCI contracts list after his wife accused him of adultery and domestic violence. Shami was supposed to be awarded a Grade B contract, which comes with a retainer of INR 3 crore (USD 460,000 approx), but the BCCI chose to wait for police proceedings. It is understood that Hasin Jahan, Shami’s wife, has met the police after she first made the allegations on social media Tuesday night. Shami, currently in Dharamsala playing the Deodhar Trophy, tweeted on Wednesday morning that the news was “absolutely false” and a “conspiracy” to defame him and adversely affect his game. However, as per reports, BCCI has taken note of the complaint, and without making any judgement on the case, has withheld the announcement of his name. According to Vinod Rai, chairman of the Committee of Administrators supervising the BCCI, the board found itself in a spot over including Shami’s name in the contracts list. “We are in a bit of Catch 22,” he told media in India. “Ordinarily you would distinguish and say that the allegation is a personal issue and the contract is a professional issue. But someone could easily point out and say this allegation is an unsavoury one and you are still rewarding him Shami.”

India’s top cricketers have received massive salary boosts — Shikhar Dhawan has got a salary hike of 1300% from last year, while Rohit Sharma’s salary has risen by 600%.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has introduced a new A+ category in the retainer fee structure for its top players, who will receive a huge pay increase under the new Annual Contracts for the 2017-18 season.
The retainer structure now features four categories — Grade A+, Grade A, Grade B and Grade C — compared to three in previous years.
The uppermost category features five players — skipper Virat Kohli, opening batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, pacemen Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah — who have been put on a retainer worth Rs 7 crore.
The world’s richest cricket board handed seven players Grade A contracts this season, including former captain MS Dhoni, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who will receive Rs 5 crore each.
Grade B players, including fast bowler Ishant Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya, will earn Rs 3 crore each while Grade C players will receive contracts worth Rs 1 crore annually.