BCCI central contract list: Big changes for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the annual player central contract for Team India senior men's and women's teams for the 2025-26 season. India’s two veteran batters, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, were demoted to grade B. Both were previously in Grade A+. The BCCI Central Contracts are divided into three categories: Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C. This time, the BCCI removed the A+ category. ODI & Test skipper Shubman Gill, senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah are kept in Grade A. 

Rohit and Virat remained in the Grade A+ category for a long time. Virat Kohli got his first contract at the beginning of his career in 2010-11, when he was placed in the B category. Exactly a year later, Virat was promoted to Grade A for the first time. When the A+ category was introduced for the first time in 2017-18, Virat remained in the A+ category till now.

On the other hand, Rohit Sharma got a Grade B category contract at the beginning of his career. But due to poor form and frequent in-and-out appearances in international cricket, he was soon demoted to the C category (2010-11). He was awarded Grade B again in 2011-12. After that, he remained in Grade B until 2016-17. When the A+ category was introduced in the 2017-18 contract, Rohit's name was included alongside Virat, and since then, he has consistently remained in the A+ category.

Virat Kohli's BCCI annual central contract year-wise

Rohit Sharma's BCCI annual central contract year-wise

Apart from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, and Shreyas Iyer have been put in Grade B contracts. 

While the Grade C contract, offered for 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, and Ruturaj Gaikwad

Team India (Senior Men) annual contracts 2025-26

Grade A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Grade B: Washington Sundar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, 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

Team India (Senior Women) annual contracts 2025-26

Indian women's team star batter, Jemimah Rodrigues, has also been promoted to the central contract this time, placing her in the Grade A category. Earlier, she was in the Grade B category. Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Deepti Sharma are also in this category.

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 Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, G Kamalini, Vaishnavi Sharma, Tejal Hasabnis