The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its central contracts for the 2025–26 season on February 9, 2026. In a major reshuffle, senior stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been placed in the Grade B category, reflecting their current participation in limited formats.
New Contract Structure
The BCCI has removed the earlier A+ bracket, making Grade A the highest tier this year. A total of 30 players have been contracted across three categories:
- Grade A (3 players): Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
- Grade B (11 players): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer
- Grade C (15 players): 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
Key Changes in Contracts
Several notable changes have been made this season. Sai Sudharsan is the only new entrant, promoted to Grade C. Mohammed Shami, who was in Grade A last year, has missed out entirely due to fitness concerns. Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar, Mukesh Kumar, and Sarfaraz Khan have also been excluded. Meanwhile, Axar Patel has been demoted from Grade B to Grade C.
According to Cricbuzz, the reshuffle reflects the formats currently played by senior stars. Both Kohli and Sharma are now active mainly in ODIs, which influenced their placement in Grade B.
Impact on Indian Cricket
The new structure signals a shift in BCCI’s approach to rewarding performance and format participation. With younger players like Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal rising to prominence, the contracts highlight India’s transition toward the next generation while still valuing the experience of veterans like Kohli and Sharma.
