Indian limited-overs captain Mahendra&nbsp;Singh Dhoni was today retained in Group A of the men's player&nbsp;contracts for 2015-16 by the BCCI.
The other players who were included in the top-level&nbsp;contract worth Rs one crore per annum, were Test captain&nbsp;Virat Kohli, leading off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and&nbsp;batsman Ajinkya Rahane, who has been upgraded from Group B.&nbsp;
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2015/nov/12-Ajinkya-rahane.jpg" alt="Ajinkya Rahane" /> Ajinkya Rahane
Slipping down to B category, worth Rs 50 lakh annually,&nbsp;was batsman Suresh Raina, whose name was inadvertently omitted&nbsp;on the BCCI's website before the Board issued a clarification.&nbsp;
Senior off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was not in the&nbsp;contracted player-list last season, gained a spot in Grade C&nbsp;after being recalled to the Indian squad by the national&nbsp;selectors.
As compared to 2014-15, when 32 players were given&nbsp;contracts, only 26 got the nod for this season.
If a player, who is not in the list of contracted&nbsp;players, plays a minimum of three matches Test/ODI/T20I, he or&nbsp;she will be added in Grade 'C'/Grade 'B', respectively, the&nbsp;BCCI announced.
<img src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2015/nov/07raina.jpg" alt="Suresh Raina" />Suresh Raina
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur said India women cricketers were brought under contract for the first time and will be divided into two grades A and B with salary of Rs.15 lakh and Rs.10 lakh annually. "I am happy to announce that India women cricketers were brought under contract for the first time and will be divided into two grades," Thakur said.
The list of contracted players:&nbsp;
Senior men:
Grade A (4) (Rs One Crore): Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat&nbsp;Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahan (4)&nbsp;
Grade B (10) (Rs 50 lakhs): Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma,&nbsp;Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav,&nbsp;Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Shami, Suresh Raina&nbsp;
Grade C (12) (Rs 25 lakhs): Amit Mishra, Axar Patel,&nbsp;Stuart Binny, Wriddhiman Saha, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Karn&nbsp;Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Lokesh Rahul, Dhawal Kulkarni,&nbsp;Harbhajan Singh, Sreenath Arvind.
Senior women:
Grade A (4) (Rs 15 lakhs): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami,&nbsp;Harmanpreet Kaur, MD Thirushkamini.
Grade B (7) (Rs 10 lakhs): Smriti Mandana, Rajeswari&nbsp;Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bist, Veda Krishnamurthy,&nbsp;Niranjana Nagarajan, Poonam Raut.

Indian limited-overs captain MS Dhoni has been retained in Group A of the men's player&nbsp;contracts for 2015-16 by the BCCI. Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been upgraded from Group B to Group A, while batsman Suresh Raina, slipped down to B category

BCCI upgrades Ajinkya Rahane, demotes Suresh Raina

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BCCI upgrades Ajinkya Rahane, demotes Suresh Raina

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