'Should be demoted to C' - Fans react as Indian Cricket Board demoted KL Rahul to Grade B in 2022-23 annual contract list

KL Rahul (Image credit: Twitter)

KL Rahul has been demoted to Grade B in the latest Indian Cricket Board 2022-23 annual contracts list released on Sunday. India's opening batter was part of Grade A last year, but a string of poor performances resulted in his demotion. A total of 26 cricketers were awarded board contracts and several players were promoted to higher grades.

Rahul was struggling to find runs, especially in the longer format, leading the management to axe him from the vice-captain role. He was removed from the playing 11 of the last two Tests in the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, where India won the series 2-1. He may also lose his place in the squad for the World Test Championship final. Now, he has suffered another setback as the wicket-keeper batter will now earn Rs 3 crore, along with Cheteshwar Pujara, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Suryakumar Yadav and Shubman Gill who are placed in the Grade B category.

Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was the highlight of the newly released annual contracts as his recent match-winning performances for India in both Tests and ODIs got him a handsome promotion. Jadeja has been promoted from Grade A to Grade A+, taking the number of players in the top division from three to four, along with Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, who were in the A+ category last year as well.

India's vice-captain in the limited-over format, Hardik Pandya has been moved from Grade C to Grade A, along with Axar Patel, who was in Grade B. The all-rounders will join off-spinner R Ashwin, pacer Mohammed Shami and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who have been retained in the Grade A category.

Few players earned their maiden annual contract and some missed out

Meanwhile, the 2022-23 annual contract list has seen a few new names including Sanju Samson Deepak Hooda, KS Bharat and Arshdeep Singh. After being a part of the Indian team for several years, Samson finally became a centrally contracted Indian player. New joiners are placed in the Grade C category and will get a remuneration of INR 1 crore. Other players in this category are Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Ishan Kishan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hanuma Vihari, Mayank Agarwal, Wriddhiman Saha and Deepak Chahar, who were in Grade C in the last cycle, do not find their names on the recent list. Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma, who were in B grade, were dropped in the 2022-23 cycle.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Rahul's demotion: 

That’s a really sensible move. Let’s hope it only motivates him to do better and come back stronger!

— Sumit Agarwal 🇮🇳 (@sumitagarwal_IN) March 26, 2023

Meanwhile Suneil shetty to Rahul pic.twitter.com/vVcAwGJV53

— ً (@SarcasticCowboy) March 26, 2023

Should be demoted to C category

— Maxi 🌶️ (@bigshow_32) March 26, 2023

Next Year C

— Aᴍᴀʀᴊᴇᴇᴛ Sʜɪɴᴅᴇ (@Eldorado_555) March 26, 2023

Haye Huku Haye ~ Suniel Shetty pic.twitter.com/XYn9cZm59b

— jerome pownotwell ( parody ) (@propnetwork1) March 26, 2023

He will be our best WK batter in WTC final

— NIKHIL 🇮🇳 (@nikhil_III) March 26, 2023

Should have demoted to C tbh.

— Thara Bhai Joginder (@Joginder___) March 26, 2023

This is the side effect of his performance.

— MJ. Nadim (@Barfibye) March 26, 2023

Getting B is a big thing for him knowing his performance

— India Wing (@india_wing) March 26, 2023