These players were in Grade C category in the BCCI central contracts for the 2023-24 season.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the central contracts for Indian players for the 2024-25 season. Players have been grouped into four categories. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah are still in the top A+ category. A total of 34 players have been included in this year’s list.
Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya have been placed in the A grade, while Rishabh Pant has been promoted from Group B to Group A after his comeback. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who were not included last year, have also returned. Iyer is now in Group B, and Kishan has been added to Group C.
| Grade | Retainership | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Grade A+ | ₹7 crore | Rohit Sharma Virat Kohli Jasprit Bumrah Ravindra Jadeja |
| Grade A | ₹5 crore | Mohammed Siraj KL Rahul Shubman Gill Hardik Pandya Mohammed Shami Rishabh Pant |
| Grade B | ₹3 crore | Suryakumar Yadav Kuldeep Yadav Axar Patel Yashasvi Jaiswal Shreyas Iyer |
| Grade C | ₹1 crore | 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 Chakaravarthy Harshit Rana |
At the same time, a few players who were part of the central contracts last season have been dropped from this year’s list. Let’s take a look at four players who have been left out of the BCCI Central Contracts for 2024-25.
Shardul Thakur was part of the Grade C category in the BCCI central contracts for the 2023-24 season. However, he has not featured for India since the Test series against South Africa in December 2023. A combination of injuries and inconsistent form kept him out of the first half of the Ranji Trophy, and he later underwent surgery. Although he returned to domestic cricket in the latter stages of the season, he was not included in the BCCI’s central contract list for 2024-25.
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Avesh Khan was one of the more surprising omissions from the BCCI central contracts list for 2024-25. The fast bowler was part of India’s white-ball setup as recently as November 2024 during the T20I series against South Africa and was considered a promising option for the shorter format. Despite putting in consistent performances and doing well in the ongoing IPL season, he was not included in this year’s list of centrally contracted players. He was also in Grade C category in the BCCI central contracts for the 2023-24 season.
Jitesh Sharma, who was in Grade C last season, has not played for India since January 2024 when he was part of the T20I series against Afghanistan. He was also not selected for the T20 World Cup. Since he has only played nine T20Is, his name missing from the new central contract list is not a big surprise. A good performance in the Indian Premier League 2025 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru might help him make a comeback to the Indian team.
KS Bharat was in Grade C last season but has not been included in the BCCI central contracts for 2024-25. He was once looked at as a strong option for India’s Test wicketkeeper role, but his recent performances in red-ball cricket have not been very good. With Rishabh Pant back and Dhruv Jurel doing well as the backup, Bharat is no longer in the main plans. His last match for India was in the Test series against England in 2023.
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