Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma likely to be demoted to Grade B in new BCCI centrals contracts- Report

Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja likely to be placed in Grade A.

Veteran India batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have reportedly been demoted from A+ Grade to Grade B in the new BCCI central contracts list for the 2025-26 season. The BCCI has decided to eliminate the A+ grade and move towards a streamlined three-tier structure.

Overall, 30 Indian players will receive BCCI central contracts for the 2025-26 season, based on national selectors' recommendations. The Board is likely to publicly disclose the list of contractual players soon.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been moved to Group B, indicating a shift towards the future generation. This "demotion" essentially reflects their present playing status.  

Both superstars have retired from T20I and Test cricket, preferring the ODI format. As a result, the BCCI believes its current contributions do not deserve a spot in the top tier.

Under the new system, the top division is now Group A, reserved for players who excel in various formats or lead the national team. New India Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, along with ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, have reportedly placed in the top Grade A.

Grade B sees the likes of T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant, ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, pacer Mohammed Siraj, and young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

T20I vice-captain Axar Patel has been placed in Grade C along with T20I regulars Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Abhishek Sharma. Also included in this list are backup Test and ODI players Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Coming to the India Women’s team contracts, ICC Women’s World Cup hero Jemimah Rodrigues has been promoted to Grade A, along with Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Deepti Sharma.

Pacer Renuka Singh, opener Shafali Verma, spinner Sneh Rana, and keeper Richa Ghosh have been placed in Grade B.

Grade C includes the likes of Radha Yadav, Pratika Rawal, Arundhati Reddy, Harleen Deol, Vaishnavi Sharma, Uma Chetry, Amanjot Kaur, and more.

BCCI central contracts list for men’s cricketers 2025-26 season:

Group A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja

Group B: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer

Group C: Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad

BCCI central contracts list for women’s cricketers 2025-26 season:

Grade A: Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma

Grade B: Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Sneh Rana

Grade C: Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Pratika Rawal, Kranti Gaud, Uma Chhetri (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charini, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Kashvi Gautam, G Kamalini (wk), Vaishnavi Sharma, Tejal Hasbnis

(Times of India inputs)