Openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have been awarded Grade A central contracts by the BCCI.

The players' previous deals expired in September, but the BCCI delayed making a decision over the pair due to the uncertainty over the futures of Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble.

The two former captains have since retired though, allowing Gambhir and Sehwag to make the move up the grading system.

Sehwag was named man of the match in the first Test against England on Monday for his 83 in the second innings which paved the way for the home side to claim a six-wicket victory.

A total of 37 players were offered contracts in four grades - A, B, C and D.

Players in the top grade receive an annual payment of six million rupees while those in the second grade are paid four million rupees.

Gambhir's contract was upgraded from the C category, while Sehwag moved up from B to the top group.

Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman are also among the nine players offered Grade A contracts.