The Board of Control for Cricket in India has placed former captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in Category B of its central contracts for the 2025–26 season. The decision marks a change from last year, as both players now participate in only one international format.
The newly issued contracts will remain valid from October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026. They also underline a wider overhaul of the BCCI’s grading structure.
Under the revised system, Category A now includes just three names.
Current Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill features in the top category. Fast-bowling leader Jasprit Bumrah and veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja join him, with Jadeja being the most seasoned active Test player in the squad.
The BCCI has scrapped the A+ grade that was part of the 2024–25 season.
In the previous cycle, Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, and Jadeja were all placed in that elite bracket. Gill’s promotion stands out following his appointment as captain in both Tests and ODIs.
Category B now comprises a strong group of senior and regular internationals. The list includes T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav, Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj.
The revised framework indicates that the earlier Grade A and Grade B categories have been combined into a single middle tier for the upcoming season. Washington Sundar appears to be one of the main beneficiaries of this restructuring.
All-rounder Axar Patel has been placed in Category C despite being a regular feature in India’s white-ball teams. He is also part of the leadership group in the current T20 World Cup squad.
Category C includes 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 Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
The men’s contracts list now remains at 30 players, with no new names added. Senior pacer Mohammed Shami drops out of the list, along with Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, and Mukesh Kumar.
The BCCI has not shared details regarding the financial value attached to each contract category.
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