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Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja remain in the top flight
ESPNcricinfo Staff
The top tier of the BCCI’s annual central contracts has remained unchanged, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja in the A+ category. But Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not part of the list of 30 contracted players; the list was expanded from 26 in 2023.
Iyer, who was one of the key players in India’s run to the World Cup final last November, lost his B Grade contract despite meeting the minimum criteria set by the board in terms of matches played. Since last October, when he began the last contract period, Iyer has played four Tests, 12 ODIs and two T20Is. Two of those Tests were the first two of the ongoing series against England, where he struggled for form and was ruled out for the rest of the series.
Soon after, Iyer informed the Mumbai Cricket Association that he had been suffering from back spasms and would not be available for the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda. However, Iyer has since been available and is part of Mumbai’s squad for the semi-final against Tamil Nadu on March 2.
Kishan had a Grade C contract last year. In the last contract period, he played two Tests, 19 ODIs and ten T20Is, and in the current cycle, he played only two ODIs and three T20Is, although he was part of several other Indian teams. In December, while touring South Africa, he sought a personal break, which was granted to him by the BCCI. However, since then he has not appeared in any cricket competition organized by the board. On Tuesday, he made headlines when he turned up to play in the DY Patil T20 Cup, a privately organized tournament in Mumbai.
A BCCI statement on Wednesday said Iyer and Kishan “were not considered for annual contracts in this round of recommendations”, along with a reiteration of its recent stance that “all athletes give priority to participating in domestic cricket during the periods in which they do not represent the team. National selection”.
The second tier of central contracts (Grade A) has R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya. Grade B has a new participant: 22-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal. It is his first central contract with the BCCI, recognizing his work in Test cricket since his debut in July 2023. He scored consecutive double centuries in the ongoing series against England.
Along with Jaiswal, the other B Grade members are Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel.
The final tier is populated by many T20 specialists including Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh. Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.
Siraj, Rahul and Gill are the new names in Grade A, all of them promoted from Grade B. Pant, who has not played in over a year since a horrific car accident in December 2022, and Axar, have been dropped to Grade A Grade B of Grade A.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Deepak Hooda and Yuzvendra Chahal have been omitted entirely, while there are a host of new names taking the place: Jaiswal in B Grade, Rinku, Tilak, Gaikwad, Dube, Bishnoi, Jitesh , Mukesh, Prasidh. , Avesh and Patidar in C grade.
The BCCI did not mention the amounts for the four categories of contracts, but ESPNcricinfo understands that they are likely to increase from the previous year, when A+ was INR 7 crore, A was INR 5 crore, B was INR 3 crore rupees and C was INR 1 crore.
The BCCI added that like previous years, all cricketers who play a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or ten T20Is within the specified period “will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro rata basis.” “For example, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, who have played two Test matches so far, will be included in C Grade if they participate in the Dharamsala Test match (against England),” their statement explained.
Additionally, the selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar recommended fast bowling contracts to five players – Akash Deep, who debuted in the fourth Test against England in Ranchi, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and V Kaverappa.
Complete list of BCCI central contracts
- Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja
- Grade A: R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya
- Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
- Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar