BCCI announce central contracts for 2024–2025

BCCI has announced the central contracts for the 2024–2025 season, with notable returns for Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, along with a few fresh faces making their debut on the list.

The top-tier Grade A+ category remains unchanged, featuring four senior players — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite announcing their retirement from T20 internationals after India’s title win in the 2024 T20 World Cup, Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja continue to hold their places in the highest bracket.

Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket in late 2024, has been removed from the list.

Among the key upgrades is Rishabh Pant, who has moved from Grade B to Grade A. Pant was previously demoted after a long absence following a car accident in December 2022. Since his return in 2024, he has played 10 Tests, one ODI, and 10 T20Is — a comeback that earned him a promotion.

Shreyas Iyer, who lost his contract last year after missing the domestic season due to back spasms, is now included in Grade B. He joins Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal in that bracket.

Ishan Kishan, who earlier opted to play in the DY Patil T20 tournament instead of representing Jharkhand in domestic cricket, has been included in Grade C. His return to domestic cricket in the 2024–25 season helped him secure a place once again.

Several new faces have also been added to the central contracts list under Grade C. These include Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana.

Meanwhile, players such as Shardul Thakur, KS Bharat, Avesh Khan, and Jitesh Sharma have been dropped from the list.

Although BCCI has not officially confirmed the contract values, it is widely reported that Grade A+ players receive ₹7 crore annually, Grade A ₹5 crore, Grade B ₹3 crore, and Grade C ₹1 crore.

Shreyas Iyer's return follows a standout year in 2024. He was part of five title-winning teams and captained Kolkata Knight Riders to an IPL trophy. He also played a vital role in India's Champions Trophy win, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer with 243 runs in five innings.

List of contracted players for 2024–25:

Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant

Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer

Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana