BCCI central contract: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli downgraded from A+ to Grade B; no room for Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the annual player retainership list for the 2025–26 season. The contracts are divided into Grade A, Grade B and Grade C. Category A+ has been discontinued.

Grade A has just three names, indicating a tight premium bracket: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. This is a sharp signal of who the board currently places at the very top of the national set-up. Players in this category will receive an annual salary of ₹5 crore.

The most shocking part is that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not part of the top category. From Category A+, they have been downgraded to Grade B.

Washington Sundar’s name is placed ahead of Kohli and Rohit in the BCCI’s Grade B list. It is unclear if it indicates any hierarchy.

Other players in the category include KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

T20 Captain Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer are also in this category. Players in this category will receive ₹3 crore annual salary from the BCCI.

Grade C includes the next rung of players: Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson are in this category. So far Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi and Ruturaj Gaikwad feature in this category as well. Players in this category will receive ₹1 crore annual salary from the BCCI.

No Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Shami

Ishan Kishan is nowhere to be found on the BCCI’s annual player retainership list. Even champion pacer Mohammed Shami fails to make it to the list. Younger players like Sarfaraz Khan and Rajat Patidar are also excluded.

In 2024-25, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer returned to the BCCI’s annual player retainership list. They were placed in Grade C. In the same year, Varun Chakaravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, and Abhishek Sharma made their debut on the list.

BCCI central contract for women

The BCCI has also released the annual retainership list for the senior women’s team. Grade A features the core leadership group of the side: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma.

Grade B includes Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Sneh Rana. Grade C includes a wider developmental pool, including Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Pratika Rawal and Kranti Gaud.

Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia and Harleen Deol are also in the category. Kashvee Gautam, G Kamalini, Vaishnavi Sharma and Tejal Hasabnis complete the category.

Meanwhile, Pakistan continue to delay its final decision on playing against India in the T20 World Cup 2026. Check IND vs PAK, T20 World Cup Match Status LIVE.