The BCCI awarded central contracts to 30 senior men’s players while doing away with the A-plus category altogether. The contracts will be valid from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
India's Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli during the first ODI cricket match between India and South Africa at JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi, Sunday, November 30, 2025. (Photo: IANS)
Former India captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were demoted to Grade B as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the Annual Player Retainership for senior men and women for the 2025-26 season.
The BCCI awarded central contracts to 30 senior men’s players while doing away with the A-plus category altogether. The contracts will be valid from October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026.
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In the 2024-25 BCCI central contracts, Rohit and Kohli were in A-plus grade along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. However, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia had earlier cited that there aren’t as many players currently fulfilling the criteria to fit into topmost category, due to which in the 2025-26 central contracts, the BCCI has scrapped A-plus category.
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Kohli and Rohit, who now restricts themselves only to the 50-overs format after retiring from Tests and T20Is, headline Grade B, which also includes KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer.
India’s current Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, are the only players named in the top Grade A bracket among the men.
As per the 2024-25 BCCI contracts, any player in Grade A would receive Rs 5 crore annually, while Grade B players would get Rs 3 crore. Grade C players would get Rs 1 crore.
Earlier, Grade A+ players (Kohli, Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja) used to receive Rs 7 crore. The BCCI has not yet officially declared whether the payment structure for 2025-26 will be any different.
On the women’s side, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues headline Grade A, while Deepti Sharma features in Grade B alongside Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Sneh Rana.
Several players have been placed in Grade C across both squads, including Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson and Arshdeep Singh among the men, and Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam and G Kamalini among the women.
Senior Men
Grade A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade B: Washington Sundar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, 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 Chakaravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Senior Women
Grade A: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.
Grade B: Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Sneh Rana.
Grade C: Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Pratika Rawal, Kranti Gaud, Uma Chetri, Arundhati Reddy, Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, G. Kamalini, Vaishnavi Sharma, Tejal Hasabnis.
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