Why Are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Likely to Be Demoted in BCCI Contracts?

BCCI is contemplating eliminating the A+ central contract tier, which could lead to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being downgraded to category B.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is said to be considering a revamp of its Central Contract tier structure. As per ANI, the board could eliminate the highest A+ category, previously designated for all-format athletes such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah.

What Does Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Retirement Mean for Central Contracts?

The report stated that Kohli and Rohit, having retired from Tests and T20Is, could be moved to the ‘B’ category for the first time in more than ten years. The report stated that the Ajit Agarkar-led men’s selection committee has suggested a new system featuring only three categories — A, B, and C — which is awaiting approval.

Revealed in April 2025, the central contracts for 2024–25 position Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja in the elite A+ category. Grade A includes Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant.

Grade B consists of Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer. Grade C consists of 19 players, primarily one-format stars, which include: Varun Chakaravarthy, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Akash Deep, Sarfaraz Khan, Tilak Verma, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Rajat Patidar, Mukesh Kumar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, and Shivam Dube

What Are the Current Salary Differences Between Grade A, B and C Players?

A+ category players make Rs. 7 crore each year, there’s a retainer of Rs. 5 crore for Grade A, Rs. 3 crore for Grade B, and Rs. 1 crore for Grade C. The BCCI rearranges the players among categories, includes some and eliminates others annually based on their reputation and game appearances across formats.

Every few years, the BCCI raises the retainer fees for different categories as well. This year, with only three categories, the value is expected to multiply significantly, although the report stated that this will be determined at the upcoming Apex Council meeting of the central board.

With Jadeja retired from T20Is and his abilities waning in ODIs, and Bumrah often rested for bilateral series, there are no experienced all-format players. Many prominent in over two formats are young players such as Rana and Reddy, who are still establishing themselves in certain environments

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