{"id":1237,"date":"2026-02-10T10:35:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T05:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/?post_type=news&p=1237"},"modified":"2026-02-10T10:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T05:05:29","slug":"kohli-rohit-demoted-to-grade-b","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/news\/kohli-rohit-demoted-to-grade-b\/","title":{"rendered":"BCCI Central Contracts Kohli Rohit Demoted to Grade B"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced the central contracts list for the 2025\u201326 season, covering the period from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026.
\u00a0
The latest list has brought a major change, with senior stars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma<\/a> demoted to Grade B following a restructuring of the contract system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A+ Grade Scrapped by BCCI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest decisions taken by the BCCI this season is the removal of the A+ category, which earlier represented the highest bracket of central contracts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previously, players in A+ received an annual retainership of \u20b97 crore. With the category now discontinued, the contracts have been streamlined into Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only Three Players in Grade A<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the 2025\u201326 cycle, only three cricketers have been placed in Grade A, the top tier:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Shubman Gill<\/strong> (Test and ODI captain)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Jasprit Bumrah<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ravindra Jadeja
    <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Among them, Bumrah remains the only player actively featuring across all three formats. Although the BCCI has not officially confirmed the retainership amounts, Grade A was previously valued at \u20b95 crore per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Why Kohli and Rohit Were Demoted<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were moved to Grade B primarily because of their reduced participation in reduced-format formats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Both players have retired from Tests and T20 Internationals, making them ODI-only cricketers at present. As per the BCCI\u2019s contract criteria, players competing in fewer formats are no longer eligible for the highest category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Grade B Players List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    • Virat Kohli<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Rohit Sharma<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • KL Rahul<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Hardik Pandya<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Mohammed Siraj<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Rishabh Pant<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Kuldeep Yadav<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Yashasvi Jaiswal<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Shreyas Iyer<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Suryakumar Yadav<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Washington Sundar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      Earlier, Grade B players earned \u20b93 crore annually, though the revised structure is yet to be confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Grade C Includes Emerging Talent<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Sixteen players have been placed in Grade C, highlighting India\u2019s emerging and one-format specialists. Notable names include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • Axar Patel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Rinku Singh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Tilak Varma<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Sanju Samson<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Arshdeep Singh<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Akash Deep<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Dhruv Jurel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Varun Chakravarthy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Abhishek Sharma<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Ruturaj Gaikwad<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Major Omissions from the List<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        Several experienced players have missed out on central contracts, most notably:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Mohammed Shami<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Ishan Kishan<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Sarfaraz Khan<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Mukesh Kumar<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Shami\u2019s exclusion comes after he failed to play an international match during the previous contract cycle, indicating that he may no longer be part of the selectors\u2019 immediate plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Women\u2019s Central Contracts Update<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          The BCCI also announced contracts for 21 women cricketers. Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Jemimah Rodrigues have been placed in Grade A, with Rodrigues earning a promotion after impressive World Cup performances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          The women\u2019s retainership fees currently stand at \u20b950 lakh (Grade A), \u20b930 lakh (Grade B), and \u20b910 lakh (Grade C).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1238,"template":"","tags":[670,672,671],"ppma_author":[489],"class_list":["post-1237","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bcci-central-contracts-2025-26","tag-kohli-rohit-demoted-to-grade-b","tag-team-india-central-contracts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/1237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1237"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cricbex.com\/story\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}