The Indian cricket board unveiled a new central contract system on Wednesday and gave the clearest possible signal of the value it accords to limited overs and Test cricket specialists, with white-ball stars placed in the highest grade.

In the new system, limited overs regulars Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan find themselves in the A+ category, which is worth rupees 70 million ($1m), along with Virat Kohli and fast bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah.

The overall value of central contracts has risen substantially. Earlier, the highest grade (A) was worth rupees 20 million ($300,000) but now the second highest grade (A) alone carries a retainer of rupees 50 million ($770,000).

Most of India’s Test specialists now find themselves in the new A category. It includes Test spinners Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay.

For Ashwin, Jadeja, Pujara and Vijay, their contract value has more than doubled from 20 to 50 million rupees. But as a share of the contract pie, they find themselves way behind Rohit and Dhawan, whose contract value has jumped from rupees 10 and five million respectively to 70 million rupees.

In simple terms, top Test specialists in India will now earn less than the best limited overs players. It’s a clear departure from the earlier thought-process of rewarding Test players with substantial central contracts to close the gap with players who play limited overs cricket and get big IPL contracts.

Also, wicketkeeper batsman MS Dhoni finds himself in the second highest A Grade, reflecting his reduced influence in the Indian team after Test retirement.

Earlier, the BCCI handed out Grade A, B and C category contracts which carried a retainer of rupees 20, 10 and five million respectively.

INDIA’S NEW CENTRAL CONTRACTS:

Grade A + (Rupees 70 million, $1million)

Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Grade A (Rupees 50 million, $770,000)

Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Wriddhiman Saha.

Grade B (Rupees 30 million, $460,000)

KL Rahul, Umesh Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Dinesh Karthik.

Grade C (Rupees 10 million, $150,000)

Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Jayant Yadav