The Board of Control for Cricket in India has revised its central contracts for the 2025-2026 season, making a clear break from the structure used last year. The biggest change is the removal of the A+ class, with class A now becoming the top plate.
This reshuffle comes at a time when Indian cricket is going through a leadership and generational change. With new captains in place and senior stars retiring from the formats, the BCCI has reworked the list to better reflect current roles and future plans.
One of the biggest talking points is the downgrade of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to Grade B. Both players retired from T20 internationals after the 2024 World Cup and subsequently retired from Test cricket in 2025, reducing their presence across formats.
Grade A, now the highest category, includes players seen as core to India’s plans across formats. The list includes Shubman Gill, who has taken over as Test and ODI captain, along with Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer.
Several players have been rewarded with promotions to Class B. Washington Sundar rises from Class C along with Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy.
Grade C now largely consists of younger and fringe players who are part of India’s broader talent pool. Names like Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi and Ruturaj Gaikwad highlight the focus on future depth.
In a statement, the BCCI said the revised contracts “reflect India’s evolving team composition, changing leadership dynamics and the increasing importance of format-specific players.”
Overall, the overhaul signals a clear shift. Multi-format performers are rewarded, workload management shapes decisions and a younger core is backed to take Indian cricket forward, while experienced names from lower leagues continue to play a role.
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