The BCCI’s annual central contract list, announced for the 2025-26 cycle covering October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, has moved Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli down to Grade B while elevating Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja into a newly configured top tier. The board also eliminated the A-plus category that had previously existed above Grade A, consolidating India’s highest-paid players into a single top bracket now led by the trio rather than the senior pair who had anchored Indian cricket for more than a decade.
A Symbolic Demotion for Two Modern Greats
Rohit Sharma and Kohli’s move to Grade B carries significance well beyond the pay-grade difference itself, since central contracts have long served as an informal signal of where the national selectors see a player’s trajectory within the squad. Both players remain centrally contracted, meaning the BCCI still considers them part of its pool of players under central management, but the demotion formalizes a shift that had already been playing out on the field as both players’ white-ball roles have narrowed in recent series.
Who Else Made the List
Alongside Gill, Bumrah and Jadeja in the top grade, reported Grade B names include Suryakumar Yadav, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Siraj, reflecting a squad increasingly built around players who came through the ranks over the past five to seven years rather than the generation that won India’s 2011 World Cup or built its Test dominance through the 2010s. On the women’s side, the board’s Grade A list includes Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, underscoring the growing parity in how the BCCI structures contracts across the men’s and women’s programs.
Notable Absences Raise Questions
Ishan Kishan and Sarfaraz Khan, both of whom held contracts in the previous cycle, were left off the new list entirely, a sharper snub than a mere downgrade and one that suggests selectors see diminishing returns on their investment in both players’ development pathways for now. Their omission has drawn criticism from some former players and commentators who argue both batters deserved a longer runway given their domestic form, though the BCCI has not publicly elaborated on the specific reasoning behind individual contract decisions.
The Broader Context: A Generational Handover
The contract reshuffle lands against the backdrop of an ongoing, often public debate over how much longer Rohit Sharma and Kohli should remain in India’s limited-overs plans ahead of the 2027 ODI World Cup, with selectors reportedly pushing a merit-based approach that requires both veterans to continue proving their fitness and form in domestic cricket rather than relying on reputation. Ravichandran Ashwin and other former players have publicly called for greater clarity from the BCCI on the pair’s roles, arguing the uncertainty does a disservice to both players and the selection process alike.
Two Ways to Read the Decision
Supporters of the board’s approach argue that formally recognizing the shift in the team’s hierarchy through the contract list is a healthy, overdue step that aligns compensation and status with on-field roles, rather than preserving legacy status for players whose primary contributions are increasingly in the past. Critics counter that demoting two of the most decorated batters in Indian cricket history risks sending a discouraging signal just as both are reportedly still competing for a place in the 2027 World Cup squad, and that the optics of the move could overshadow whatever cricketing logic underpins it.
What’s Next
Both Rohit Sharma and Kohli are expected to continue playing domestic one-day cricket to maintain their claims on ODI selection, per the BCCI’s stated stance that place in the national team should not be treated as automatic regardless of contract status. Their performances over the coming domestic season, alongside India’s ongoing white-ball fixtures, will determine whether either player features prominently in the squad planning for the 2027 ODI World Cup, a tournament increasingly discussed as the likely final major event of both men’s international careers.