The Board of Control for Cricket in India is considering a revamp of its central contract structure, which could see the Grade A category discontinued. If the revised model is approved, senior Team India players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are expected to be placed in Grade B according to BCCI sources, reported news agency ANI.
The proposal has been put forward by the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar, which has recommended doing away with the A+ category (Rs 7 crore) and restructuring the system to retain only three grades — A, B and C. Further clarity on the revised pay structure and final approval is likely at the next apex council meeting.
Under the proposed framework, Kohli and Rohit — who currently play ODIs exclusively — are likely to fall under Category B if the model is cleared by the board.
At present, BCCI central contracts are annual retainers awarded across A+, A, B and C categories, carrying retainers of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively, in addition to match fees.
The 2024–25 central contract list, announced in April 2025, features Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah in the A+ category. Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant are placed in Grade A.
T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, along with Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer, are part of Grade B.
The Grade C list includes Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, 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 Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana.
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