By IANS
New Delhi : Indian vice-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and batsman Yuvraj Singh have been promoted to grade A in the payment list of cricketers while Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, V.V.S. Laxman and Irfan Pathan have been demoted to grade B, the Indian cricket board said Saturday.
Skipper Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble are still in grade A that provides an annual retainer of Rs.5 million.
The contracts, which were announced earlier this week after a long delay, are valid for the period October 2006-September 2007.
"Gradation is based on the performance of the players in the previous season," said Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a statement here.
Ajit Agarkar maintained his position in grade B that offers a retainer of Rs.3.5 million.
Despite an impressive run with the ball, pacer Zaheer Khan was retained in grade C along with Gautam Gambhir, Sreesanth and Suresh Raina. New entrants in this grade are Wasim Jaffer and Munaf Patel.
Besides the retainer, the players will also get a uniform match fee and a share of the BCCI's profits.
Grades:
Grade A: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Grade B: V.V.S. Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar.
Grade C: Gautam Gambhir, Wasim Jaffer, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Suresh Raina and Munaf Patel.