The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly expected to revise its central contracts this cycle at the board’s apex council meeting on December 22. According to reports, veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma may be demoted, and the updated contract list will be announced after the meeting.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli announced their retirements from T20Is together after lifting the 2024 T20 World Cup and both of them also retired from Test cricket after BGT. They played a Ranji Trophy game after BGT and were expected to go for the England tour, however, both chose to end their red-ball careers just before the England series and shift their focus to ODIs and the IPL as they enter the final phase of their playing journeys.
Former
Team India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are in the BCCI’s highest contract tier, Grade A+, earning ₹7 crore each. Kohli has remained in this category since its introduction in 2018. Grade A+ is for players who are active in all three formats. However, they were retained in the top bracket last cycle despite stepping away from T20Is after the 2024 T20 World Cup win. Since the BCCI gives more weightage to Tests and ODIs than T20Is, both remained in the top category.
The central contracts are a carefully calibrated mechanism designed to reward performance, incentivise participation, especially in the Test format, while also maintaining the highest standards of professionalism within the squad. The A+ category Is a premium bracket strictly reserved for the best all-format players. India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill is likely to be promoted to A+. Eligibility for even the lowest tier requires a minimum number of international appearances. Typically, this includes benchmarks such as three Tests or eight ODIs or ten T20Is within the cycle.
Placed in the A+ category at present, both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are expected to be demoted as they are no longer active players in the Test and T20I format. If Kohli and Rohit do get dropped to the A category, they would each earn Rs 2 crore less in the ‘A contract’ (Rs 5 crore), in comparison to the ‘A+ contract’ (Rs 7 crore). Meanwhile Ravindra Jadeja could still retained the A+ contract as he is an active member of the Test and ODI team.
