Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma for India - (Source: AFP)
In a significant development, a media report suggest that the BCCI is set to release the players’ central contract 2025-26 list in a day or two. The Indian cricket board has made some massive changes to the existing list, primarily revolving around the two talismans - Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
A report from Sportstak stated that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are currently placed in the ‘A+’ category of the central contract, will be demoted to the ‘A’ category. The reason behind this reported change is simple as the 2 veterans are only active in a single format. Further, the highest category is usually reserved for cricketers active in two or all three formats.
India’s ODI and Test captain, Shubman Gill, is all set for a promotion as he will be upgraded from ‘A’ to ‘A+’ category. The right-handed batter will join Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, who will be the other two players than Gill to be placed in the top category.
Ishan Kishan to make a comeback after SMAT heroics
Ishan Kishan will earn a place back in the central contract after a long hiatus. The southpaw is most likely to be placed in a B category, the same as Shreyas Iyer. For the unversed, the apex cricketing board had punished Iyer and Kishan in 2024 for disciplinary issues and ousted them from the contract.
The Punjab Kings captain returned to the contract last year, but Kishan had to wait till his recent SMAT 2025-26 heroics to have his central contract back alongside a place in the T20 World Cup 2026 squad.
Let's look at BCCI's existing central contract list.
BCCI Central Contract list 2024-2025
- Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
- Grade A: Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya
- Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana
The BCCI will also evaluate a proposal to revise match fees for umpires and match referees, a long-pending demand within the domestic circuit, the same media report added.
