Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Demoted To Grade B: Key Takeaways From BCCI Annual Contract List 2025-26
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) annual contract list has been released by the board for the upcoming season in the Indian cricket calendar. Though most of the names were expected, the highlight would be surrounding the two big names of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
To add to that, the board has also released the BCCI annual contract list for the senior women’s side, wherein four players have been handed ‘Grade A’ contracts – Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma.
Key Takeaways From BCCI Annual Contract List 2025-26
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma Demotion to ‘Grade B’
Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who were regulars in the ‘Grade A’ contract list for almost every year of their careers, have been demoted down to the ‘Group B’ criteria. The decision comes in light of the fact that they have bid adieu to two out of the three formats, and will only be representing India in the 50-over format.
Ishan Kishan Not on the List Despite Sizzling Form
Additionally, Ishan Kishan, who has hit a golden patch in the shortest format recently is nowhere to be seen on the list of the central contracts. The reason being the updated guidelines for the selection approach for players. Read more about it here.
Ishan Kishan has recently set the stage on fire, with prolific performances in the T20I series against New Zealand. The Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) wicketkeeper-batter ended up scoring a mammoth century in the fifth and final T20I in Thiruvananthapuram.
No Sign Of Mohammed Shami Or Mukesh Kumar
Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar have not found a spot in the list of players named in the central contracts list. Shami played a wonderful knock in the quarter-final of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 against Andhra Pradesh, scoring a 33-ball 53.
The speedster was seen having a lengthy discussion with selector RP Singh after the end of day’s play, which have sparked rumours of his comeback. That being said. Mukesh Kumar has also not found himself in the list as he has not played a lot of international cricket in the past year.
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Players in the Men’s Annual Contract List 2025-26
Grade A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
Grade B: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, 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 Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad
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