Kumar Bahukhandi
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were on expected lines downgraded to group B of the latest annual central contract awarded by the BCCI (PTI file image)
The cycle for new central contract is based on performance and volume of games played during the preceding season
New Delhi: Senior superstars Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were on expected lines downgraded to group B of the latest annual central contract awarded by the BCCI which also abolished the prevailing A+ category carrying a retainership fee of Rs 7 crore.
The BCCI on Monday February 9, 2026 awarded central contract to 30 men and 21 women cricketers classified in group A, B and C. The cycle for new central contract is based on performance and volume of games played during the preceding season.
Two-format skipper Shubman Gill along with senior pacer Jasprit Bumrah and premier Test all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were retained in group A.
However, the BCCI didn’t mention the quantum of retainership fees for the three categories. With A+ being done away, in the earlier seasons, group A was valued at Rs 5 crore, group B at Rs 3 crore annually, and group C at Rs 1 crore.
As far as Kohli and Rohit are concerned, their retirement from Tests and T20Is effectively makes them one-format players and hence as per criteria, they couldn’t have been retained in the top-most category.
It is understood that A+ was a gradation that was introduced by the erstwhile Committee of Administrators (COA) at the behest of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It was meant for excellence across three formats and all these years, only four people qualified — Kohli, Rohit, Jadeja and Bumrah — in that category.
But, with three of the four retiring from one or two formats, the BCCI didn’t want just Bumrah to be kept in A+ as the national selection committee isn’t convinced that Test and ODI skipper Gill is an all-format certainty after being dropped from the T20 World Cup squad.
One interesting aspect, however, will be whether Bumrah is paid the earlier retainership amount (Rs 7 crore) as he is still an automatic choice across all formats and it is not his fault that the highest category has been done away with.
Mohammed Shami dropped from contracts
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During the last cycle, 34 players were awarded contracts but this time the list has been pruned to 30. Veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, keeper-batter Ishan Kishan, seamer Mukesh Kumar and Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan didn’t figure in the list.
The reason being during the said cycle, they didn’t play a single international game across any format. Shami’s exclusion is an indication that he is no longer in the selectors’ scheme of things. While Kishan made a spectacular comeback in T20Is, it was only in the new cycle. In case of Mukesh, he is no longer in the radar and didn’t play last season.
Ditto for Sarfaraz, who was part of the squad in Australia but did not play a single game. He had no matches to show for contract retention. In the 30 names, only three have got grade A, 11 had been listed in grade B and 16 others in grade C.
The only surprise, although of minor proportions, is senior player Axar Patel, who regularly plays ODI and T20Is and is part of Test squad, being relegated to group C with one format players.
Jemimah upgraded to group A
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While skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana retained their top billing in the women’s list, India’s World Cup star Jemimah Rodrigues got a promotion from group B to A for her stellar semi-final show against Australia.
Sneh Rana has also got a promotion and is now in group B along with Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh Thakur.
There were 13 cricketers in group C. As of now, women’s central contract retainership fees are Rs 50 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively.
( Source : PTI )
