In a major change, the BCCI seems to have done away with A+ grade and shifted batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to B category. For the 2025-26 season, a total of 30 players have been handed central contracts across three categories.
Last season, as many as 34 players were given central contracts.
Former captains Kohli and Rohit, who featured in the A+ category last season, are part of Grade B which follows their retirements from Tests and T20Is. India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav has also been placed in the B category.
Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja remain in the A category. While Gill and Bumrah play in all three formats, Jadeja features in Tests and ODIs having retired from T20Is.
The Grade B features as many as 11 players, while 16 players are in Grade C, including rising batting star Abhishek Sharma.
Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar, and Sarfaraz Khan haven’t been given central contracts.
BCCI Central Contracts Breakdown
A Grade: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
B Grade: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer.
C Grade: Axar Patel, Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Aakash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudarshan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
BCCI Central Contracts For Women
A Grade: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.
B Grade: Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Sneha Rana.
C Grade: Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Pratika Rawal, Kranti Goud, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Shri Charani, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, G Kamalini, Vaishnavi Sharma, Tejal Hasabnis.
