Updated on:
The BCCI Central Contracts are decided on the basis of a player’s selection in different formats. Those who play more formats regularly are placed in better grades in comparison to other players. Below is the criteria for the selection of players in different grades of the BCCI Central Contract list.
Grade A+: Players who are an automatic pick across forms in every condition
Grade A: Players who are regular in test cricket and 1 more format
Grade B: Players who are regular in both white-ball formats
Grade C: New players in the contract scheme of things and regular in one format
As many as 34 players were awarded annual BCCI central contracts. The applicable period for this contract is from October 2024 to September 2025. The players were judged during the period from October 2023 to September 2024. Depending on the number of formats and games played in this period would decide which grade a player would go to.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah have been stalwarts of Indian cricket for a very long time. During the period of assessment, each of these four players was part of the playing XI for the men in blue across formats in every condition. During this 11-month period, India played test cricket at home and away and two World Cups of both formats. These four players were the only players who did not miss a single game of the ODI or the T20 World Cup. While India came short in the ODI World Cup final against Australia in 2023, they did win the T20 World Cup in 2024 while being undefeated.
While a player like Bumrah, who has had his fair share of injuries, missed out on playing many matches, he was still a crucial player whenever fit. During the assessment period, Bumrah was unarguably India’s most important player across formats in different conditions.
Even though Hardik Pandya does not play test cricket for the Indian Cricket Team, he still remains a vital player for the men in blue in white-ball cricket. If not for an injury in the middle of the ODI World Cup, Pandya would have been the fifth player, along with the A+ category players, to play in both World Cups.
Apart from Pandya, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant were also awarded Grade A central contracts. Gill is a regular in the test team and is the vice-captain of the ODI team. Rahul, Siraj, Shami, and Pant are also regulars in tests when fit and are part of the One-Day team.
Even though Suryakumar Yadav is the captain of the Indian team in T20Is, he was still placed in the Grade B category. During the assessment period, Surya played in the ODI World Cup as well as the T20 World Cup. However, he fell out of contention in One-Day cricket and therefore could not make it to Grade A.
Kuldeep Yadav, in the recent past, has been India’s go-to premier spinner in white-ball cricket. However, the left-arm chinaman is not an automatic selection anymore. While he played all the games during the ODI World Cup, Kuldeep was benched in the USA leg of the T20 World Cup, where Jadeja and Axar Patel played ahead of him. In the longest format, he has been in and out of the team. However, with Ravichandran Ashwin retired, Kuldeep could become the premier spinner with the red ball at least in home conditions.
Axar Patel has been India’s second-in-demand spin bowling all-rounder after Ravindra Jadeja. However, he has fallen out of contention for the test team, where Washington Sundar gets the preference ahead of him. Meanwhile, in white-ball cricket, he is the lead spin-bowling all-rounder in T20Is, where Jadeja has retired.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been one of the hottest commodities in the world of cricket for some time now. He has already cemented his position in test cricket as an opener. In white-ball cricket, he has only played a single ODI, as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are still going strong at the top of the order. In the shortest format, Jaiswal could become a regular, but the amount of talent India has, it will be tough even for someone of his calibre to cement their place.
Shreyas Iyer’s exclusion from the central contract in the previous season was one of the most talked-about points. The middle-order batter was one of India’s best batters in the ODI World Cup 2023 but was still dropped from the contract list along with Ishan Kishan. Multiple reports suggested that both players faced the axe from the BCCI on disciplinary grounds. However, since then, Iyer has made a strong comeback and is a mainstay of the One-Day squad batting at number four. He is not in the squads for the other two formats, but a call-up in T20Is might not be far away from him, given the form he is in the IPL.
19 players were awarded a Grade C contract. These players are mostly regular in one format. However, that does not mean that they are not in contention for other formats. Players like Arshdeep Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Abhishek Sharma are some of the players who are looked at as future prospects in different formats as well.
The moment BCCI announced, many fans questioned whether Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja still should be in the Grade A+ central contract. The three veteran players are no longer active in T20Is. All three players retired right after winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados. While Kohli and Rohit announced their decision to retire on the same day they won the trophy, Jadeja’s announcement came a day later.
However, for almost a year, the three veteran players have not been three-format players. This meant that many fans questioned whether they deserved to be placed in Grade A+ with Jasprit Bumrah.
The three players were still retained in the highest grade possible, because during the assessment period of this annual central contract 2024-25, the three players played all three formats. What this could mean is that they could be possibly demoted to Grade A in the next cycle if they continue to play.
As is the case every year, there were a few players who were left out of the retainership. Nine players were not retained for the 2024-25 season. Among those players, the most experienced was Ravichandran Ashwin. The reason the veteran off spinner was not retained was because of his decision to retire from all forms of international cricket. He announced his decision midway during the Border-Gavaskar Tropy where India succumbed to a 3-1 defeat.
Shardul Thakur, too, was left out of the contract list with more options in his role, making it to the Indian team in the last few months. The bowling all-rounder was one of the mainstays during India’s tour to Australia and England a few years ago. However, the drop in his speeds meant that he was not considered to be a safe fourth fast bowling option. Currently, Nitish Kumar Reddy, thanks to a great display of batting in the latest tour to Down Under, will fulfil Shardul’s role in the test team. He went unsold in the IPL 2025 auction but was later purchased by the Lucknow Super Giants as an injury replacement. He has found some form in the last few months at the domestic level and could very well be named in the squad that will tour England after IPL 2025.
Apart from Ashwin and Shardul, KS Bharat, Jitesh Sharma, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, Avesh Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Vidwath Kaverappa were also left out of the BCCI contracts.
The new entrants in the contract list included the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana. These seven players were named in Grade C.
Among these seven, Abhishek and Nitish Reddy have already impressed in different formats. Chakravarthy was part of the team that won the ICC Champions Trophy, however, the mystery spinner will be looked at as a prospect in the shortest format rather than One-Day cricket. Sarfaraz and Dhruv were an integral part of the home season in 2023. However, owing to some poor performances from Sarfaraz and Rishabh Pant, coming back, it could be tough for both players to retain their places in the red-ball team. Harshit Rana is looked at as an all-format and could very well be the fourth seam-bowling option for India in conditions away from home. Akash Deep is also a probable in test cricket, where injuries to key players in the last year or so gave bowlers like him a chance to play. With England series coming up, he could be named in the squad but would have to fight for his place in the playing 11.
Among the 34 players who were awarded central contracts, 33 are part of the Indian Premier League. Sarfaraz Khan is the only player to be centrally contracted with the board even after going unsold at the IPL auction held in November 2024.
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians are the only team with five players contracted. Interestingly, among the five players from MI, four are part of the leadership group as well in different formats. While Rohit Sharma is the captain of the Test and One-Day team, Suryakumar Yadav is the skipper in T20Is. Hardik Pandya is one of the leaders in white-ball cricket. Jasprit Bumrah, on the other hand, is the vice-captain of the test team.
Each of the Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, and Sunrisers Hyderabad had four of their players in the BCCI central contract list. While three players each from the Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, Rajasthan Royals, and Kolkata Knight Riders are contracted with the BCCI. Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings had the least number of players in the central contract, with only two of their players making the cut.
More Links
FANTASY CRICKET TIPS
