Reports | MS Dhoni not awarded central contract due to lack of appearances

The BCCI, earlier on Thursday, dropped a bombshell when they announced that former Indian skipper MS Dhoni would no longer be a centrally contracted player after the board chose to omit him from the 27-man contracted list for the 2019/20 season. The move instantly sparked retirement rumours, with many fearing that this could mean the end of the road for the wicket-keeper batsman in national colours. 

However, amidst all the speculation, as per a PTI report, a source close to the BCCI has come forward and stated that Dhoni was communicated before-hand about his omission and revealed that the reason for the exclusion was the 38-year-old not featuring in enough matches in the past year, which automatically made him ineligible.

"Let me clarify that one of the top-most BCCI office-bearers spoke to MS and told him about how they are going about in the central contracts. He was clearly told that since he hasn't played any game in the said period (September 2019 till date), he cannot be included for the time being," a source close to the BCCI told PTI.

The official, however, hinted that Dhoni might very well be 'automatically included' in the list should he play a certain number of matches in the upcoming few months and revealed that the existing rule requires players to play a certain number of matches to qualify for being able to hold a central contract. 

Furthermore, the official revealed that the 'minimum matches' criteria was the very reason that both Washington Sundar and Wriddhiman Saha got awarded contracts and also said that Prithvi Shaw would also get a Grade B contract on a pro-rata basis if he makes one more Test appearance for the country.

"There will be an Asia Cup T20 (likely to be shifted from Pakistan) and if Dhoni plays a certain number of matches, he will be automatically included. It's not like he has been dumped for good. It's just that he doesn't qualify because he has not played," the official said.

"Like Washington Sundar has played 21 T20 Internationals and at least more than 10 in the current season and with more T20s this year, he got a contract. Similarly, Wriddhiman (Saha) had a group C contract last year when he was injured.

"To get into group B, currently, you need to play three Tests and he fulfilled the criteria during the home season. Same for Mayank Agarwal. That's how it works," the official explained. If Prithvi Shaw is selected in the Indian team and plays just one more Test, he will get a Grade B contract on pro-rata basis,"  he concluded.