Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Demoted in BCCI's Annual Contracts List; Top Tier Reduced to Just Three Players: REPORT

BCCI Annual Central Contract: In a big setback or sorts, veteran cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been demoted in the latest annual Central Contract list of the Board of Control of Cricket in India. As per Dainik Jagran, the two stalwarts have been moved from A+ to B category in BCCI's 2025-26 contracts. Suryakumar Yadav joins them in Group B, while Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja remain in Group A. 

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BCCI Updated Grades

Grade A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja.

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

Grade 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 Sudarshan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad.

For the unversed, Rohit and Kohli have stopped playing T20s and Tests and are only active in the ODI format. As per their own confession, they want to feature in the 2027 ODI World Cup. It is clear that BCCI's reshuffle in contracts highlights a new approach by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee. 

How Much do Players Fetch?

Players placed in A-plus category would get Rs 7 crore per year as per the previous structure. Players in Grade A bracket receive Rs 5 crore per year, while it reduces to Rs 3 crore in Grade B. The players placed in Grade C get Rs 1 crore. For the unversed, the A-plus category is being scrapped as there could be possible changes in the pay structure. The BCCI is easily the richest board in the world and hence an increase in pay is expected.