The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the annual central contracts for senior men’s and women’s Indian cricket teams for the 2025-26 season, running from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026.
Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, pacer Jasprit Bumrah, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have been placed in the Grade A category. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been demoted from Grade A Plus to Grade B. The primary reason cited for this change is that Kohli and Rohit now play in only one format (ODI) after stepping away from Test and T20 cricket.
The BCCI has discontinued the Grade A Plus category this year and awarded central contracts to 30 male players across Grades A, B, and C. The retainer fees for each category have not been disclosed this time. Previously, players in Grade A received ₹5 crore, Grade B ₹3 crore, and Grade C ₹1 crore annually.
On the women’s side, captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, and Deepti Sharma have been included in Grade A, with Jemimah Rodrigues earning promotion following her impressive World Cup performance. Players like Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, and Sneh Rana have been placed in Grade B, while 13 players, including Radha Yadav, Yastika Bhatia, and Uma Chetry, feature in Grade C.
Notably, experienced pacer Mohammed Shami and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan have not been included in this year’s central contract list. Similarly, Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar have also missed out. Young batsman Sai Sudarshan has been awarded a Grade C contract for the first time.
Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had earlier suggested the introduction of the Grade A Plus category to reward players excelling across all three formats. Over the years, only Kohli, Rohit, Jadeja, and Bumrah held this status. However, since three of them have retired from one or two formats, the board has decided not to retain Bumrah in Grade A Plus either.
The BCCI’s central contract list for 2025-26 is as follows:
Grade A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
Grade B: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
Grade C: Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudarshan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.