BCCI Central Contracts: Ishan Snubbed, Rohit-Kohli Demoted, Jadeja Retained — Fans Spark Debate

BCCI’s 2025-26 central contracts remove the A+ grade, demoting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to Grade B. With Jadeja and Shubman Gill in Grade A, fans are questioning the fairness, transparency, and criteria behind the new retainership system.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the central contracts for the senior men’s and women’s teams on Monday, February 9. The central contracts for the players were announced amid the ongoing Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and ahead of the women’s team's away series against Australia, which will begin on February 15.

The Annual Retainership for the 2025-26 was finalised following the BCCI’s Apex Council meeting, which took place at the board’s headquarters in Mumbai. The annual central contract saw the removal of the A+ grade, which was the highest tier, resulting in Grade A now being the top category for senior players. The change in the central contract was applied to the men’s and women’s, affecting top earners and senior players.

In January, the removal of an A+ grade from the central contracts for players was proposed by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee and recommended to be discussed in the Apex Council’s meeting, which was eventually approved by the board on Monday.

Ro-Ko Demoted, Ishan Snubbed

The new BCCI central contracts for players witnessed a change at the top tier, with veteran Indian batters, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, being demoted to Grade B from A+. Rohit and Kohli were the highest retained players since the introduction of A+ in 2017-18, and were earning INR 7 crore annually.

Since the A+ grade has been removed from the central contracts list for players, India’s two former captains now fall under Grade B, which carries an annual retainership of INR 3 crore, reflecting a restructuring rather than a direct performance-based demotion. Since Rohit and Kohli are no longer all-format players as they retired from Tests and T20Is and feature only in ODIs, their Grade B placement reflects the BCCI’s new format-based contract structure.

However, Ravindra Jadeja has continued to remain the highest-retained player, alongside India Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah, as they have been categorised in Grade A with an annual retainership of INR 5 crore. Jadeja and Bumrah were earlier inthe A+ category, while Gill was in Grade A.

The likes of Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Hardik Pandya have been placed in Grade A, alongside Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, reflecting their appearances in one or two formats of the game.

Meanwhile, Axar Patel, Sai Sudharsan, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson. Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Ravi Bishnoi were awarded the Grade C contract, earning an annual retainership of INR 1 crore. Meanwhile. Ishan Kishan was not awarded any central contract, despite being in Grade C last year. 

BCCI Central Contracts Leave Fans Questioned

The official announcement of the new annual retainership for 2025-26 has left the fans debating over the allocation of grades, questioning the promotion and demotion of certain players, especially Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, being downgraded to Grade B, and exclusions in the men’s team.

Taking to their X handles (formerly Twitter), the fans and cricket enthusiasts expressed outrage and confusion over the BCCI’s central contracts. Many questioned Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill’s place in Grade A, while multi-format players like Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel were left in lower grades.

The demotion of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, alongside Ishan Kishan’s exclusion, sparked heated debates, with fans calling it unfair, inconsistent, and biased, accusing the board of favouritism and unclear selection criteria.

The annual retainership is based on a combination of factors, including player performance, leadership roles, and seniority. However, the recent allocations have raised questions among fans about transparency and consistency in how the BCCI determines the grades.