BCCI unsure about Mohammed Shami's India future after 'serious allegations' from cricketer's wife

The Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) was left with no option but withhold Mohammed Shami's name from the list of centrally contracted players for the 2017/18 cricket season following reports that claimed the cricketer's wife had accused him of domestic violence and adultery.

Shami's exclusion from the 26-member list announced on Wednesday, March 7 came as a big surprise despite the accusations leveled against him by his wife Hasin Jahan whom the 27-year-old married in 2014.

'It was a call from CoA'

The BCCI though seems to have made a conscious decision, keeping in mind the backlash it could have faced if it had decided to reward Shami under the current circumstances.

A senior BCCI official has told DNA that the governing body even tried to take into account only his professional life when it came to including him in the contracted-players list but the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) made the call to withhold the right-arm pacer's name.

Notably, Jahan took to Facebook and posted alleged screenshots of the cricketer's conversations with multiple women. She also alleged that Shami and his family "used to torture" her and that they had even "wanted to kill" her. She went on to file a police complaint after making the allegations on social media, according to Cricbuzz.

"BCCI is in a bit of dilemma because there is a question of ethics involved here. Anyone can say that it's purely a personal issue and has nothing to do with his professional life. That argument can be taken," the senior official told the newspaper.

"On the other hand, some might accuse BCCI that a player has been rewarded despite such serious allegations, including an attempt to murder, are being leveled against him by his wife," he added.

"It was a call from COA on Wednesday asking BCCI to put Shami's name on hold till further decision that cleared the air."

The BCCI official also shed light on how Ben Stokes was temporarily suspended by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) following the all-rounder's arrest over involvement in a brawl in Bristol Pub. The 26-year-old was dropped for Ashes 2017/18, which England lost 4-0 Down Under.

Shami has denied the allegations, calling them a "conspiracy" to "hurt" his game.

The Bengal pacer had been an integral member of Virat Kohli-led Indian side over the last few years. He had also played a key role in India's Test tour of South Africa earlier this year, picking up 15 wickets, including a five-for, in three Tests.

Pay hike for Virat Kohli and co.

Meanwhile, captain Virat Kohli along with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be part of a new category, termed A+. The players in the top-bracket have got a raise of Rs 5 crore and will now receive 7 crore each annually.

Former skipper MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha are in the A category and they will take home Rs 5 crore each.

B category will have the likes of Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Dinesh Karthik, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. They will earn an annual sum of Rs 3 crore each.

Karun Nair, Axar Patel, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Parthiv Patel and Jayant Yadav remain in the C category. Shreyas Iyer, who has been a regular in the limited-overs side over the last few months was one of the surprise omissions.

Meanwhile, 19 women cricketers were also handed contracts across three categories.

New retainership contracts

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