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'Umran not in WC plans and Dhawan there? Bumrah getting crores...': BCCI blasted

Moments after the revelation of the player contract list, BCCI were blasted with queries pertaining to the three players and their role in the World Cup plan for India.

On Sunday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the Annual Player Contracts list for the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team, for the period of October 2022 to September 2023, which includes the T20 World Cup last year to the month right before the blockbuster ODI World Cup at home this year. The list comprised of 26 players divided into four pay-scale grades. Few earned a promotion, few were demoted while as many as seven players have lost their contracts. Moments after the revelation of the player contract list, BCCI were blasted with queries pertaining to the three players and their role in the World Cup plan for India.

Umran Malik; Jasprit Bumrah; Shikhar Dhawan

The biggest gainer of the lot was Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. The former joined Indian captain Rohit Sharma, former skipper Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah in the A+ category while the latter made a jump from Grade B to A. And, Hardik Pandya, who had spent the better half of the last cyle injured, has been promoted from Grade C to A. On the other hand, some veteran cricketers in Ajinkya Rahane and Ishant Sharma, who were both part of Grade B, lost their contracts.

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While Jadeja's promotion was celebrated by fans, who felt that the all-rounder deserved it, Bumrah retaining his place in Grade A+ pay-scale was questioned with the logic that the the star pacer did not appear in a single match during the ongoing cycle with his recurring back issue, having last played in September 2022 before being ruled out of the T20 World Cup. Here are some of the tweets…

 ‘Umran Malik not in World Cup plans and Shikhar Dhawan still there?’ -

Fans were also livid at Umran not being given a player contract for the 2022-23 cycle with many asking whether it means that he is not part of India's ODI World Cup plan. The promising fast bowler from Jammu ann Kashmir made his debut in the sumemr of 2022 after having impressed trhe selectors and veteran crickets with his performance in IPL. He represented India in 16 white-ball matches, picking 24 wickets, with his last appearance being in the New Zealand series at home earlier in January this year.

Questions were also raised on Dhawan, who has long fallen out of reckoning in Tests and T20Is and last represented India in the ODIs in December 2022 before Shubman Gill ably replaced him in the India set-up for the World Cup plan.

Questions were also raised on Mohammed Siraj's place in Grade B despite being an all-format player now while fans rejoiced at Sanju Samson being handed a central contract.

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Virat Kohli was cocky, arrogant; needed to come down to earth': AB de Villiers' honest admission, Chris Gayle reacts

AB de Villiers, who shared the dressing room with Kohli for IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, still distinctly remembers his first very impression of the star India batter. And it is not a pleasant one.

Former India skipper Virat Kohli, over the course of his illustrious career, has grown not just a modern-era great, a legend to be more precise, in world cricket, but also as a human being. And much of the latter, as admitted by him as well many a times, led to his rising dominance in international cricket, with the illustration of his earlier self almost fade away. But AB de Villiers, who shared the dressing room with Kohli for IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, still distinctly remembers his first very impression of the star India batter. And it is not a pleasant one.

AB de Villiers; Virat Kohli; Chris Gayle

The ebbs and flows of life has calmed down Kohli a lot and De Villiers certainly agreed to that during his conversation with another former RCB cricketer Chris Gayle on franchise's YouTube channel. But 10-12 years back, when Kohli was in his early 20s, having just cemented his spot in the Indian team and won the ODI World Cup at home under MS Dhoni's captaincy, De Villiers remembers a different Kohli.

The former South Africa captain admitted that he when he first met the ex-RCB skipper in 2011, he found him “cocky and arrogant” and felt “he's got to come down to earth a bit” as Gayle was left in splits before hinting that he wasn't really fond of the India batter around that time.

ALSO READ: 'Umran not in WC plans, Dhawan still there? Bumrah getting crores...': BCCI blasted after player contract revelation

“Oh my goodness...I have had this question before and I had given this answer before as well. I think he was quite cocky and arrogant when I met him the first time. With that hairstyle and he had bit of a strut going...,"De Villiers said.

Gayle, who couldn't stop laughing, added, “Flamboyant, was he?”

“Yes absolutely,” replied De Villiers. “”But the minute I got to know him a bit better and watched him play I mean I've got as much respect for him but I got to know him better as a human being. I think he had a barrier around him when I met him the first time and that barrier opened up and I got to know the person. I didn't not like him but you know what I'm saying. He's a top person now but first impression was ufff...he's got to come down to earth a