Former player Aakash Chopra has questioned the recently released BCCI contract list, asking why India’s T20I vice-captain Axar Patel was given a Category C contract. The Indian Cricket Board has scrapped the A+ bracket and kept Grade A as the top category.

Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja are in the top bracket. Axar Patel, who has been playing white-ball cricket and is a part of the Test squad as well, was demoted from Grade B to C, a move that surprised Chopra. Aakash took to X and asked what the all-rounder needs to do to get fair treatment.

Chopra didn’t like the move of keeping KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav in a lower category and also wrote about Arshdeep’s bracket.

“Axar Patel ko aur kya karna hoga to get what he deserves? Three-format player. Vice-captain in one format. Grade-C?? Also, if Jadeja and Gill are in Grade-A, why aren’t Hardik, Rahul and Kuldeep?? Even Arshdeep shouldn’t be in Grade-C,” wrote Chopra on X.

Chopra questioned the logic behind keeping two-format players Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja in Grade A.

“Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill are in Grade A. Gill and Jadeja are two-format players, but they got the Grade A category. What about Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul? Kuldeep Yadav is playing in all formats of the game. Axar Patel is the vice-captain in T20Is, plays ODI and is also available for Test matches, but he is in Grade C. Arshdeep is also in Grade C. Mohammed Siraj is also in Grade B despite competing in all formats.

“This is unfair. Axar should have been in Grade A,” he added.

Axar has been a top performer in the fifty-over format and T20Is. He has contributed with the bat and ball in international cricket.

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