Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli Retain Top BCCI Contracts Despite T20I Retirement; Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Return to Central List

Indian cricket veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retained their Grade A+ BCCI central contracts for the 2024–25 season, even after stepping away from T20 Internationals. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the updated retainership list on Monday, confirming that both players remain in the highest contract tier, which offers an annual salary of ₹7 crore, along with match fees and performance bonuses.

Joining them in the elite category are pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, both of whom have also retired from the T20I format.

In a key development, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been brought back into the central contract fold. Iyer has been placed in Grade B, while Kishan returns in Grade C. The pair had been omitted last season for not participating in domestic cricket.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has moved up to Grade A, replacing the now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin. Pant was in Grade B last year. The remaining five players in Grade A remain unchanged, featuring the likes of Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya.

Seven new players have been added to the contract list in the C category, including Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana.

Meanwhile, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma, KS Bharat, and Avesh Khan, who were all part of the C category last year, have been dropped from the list altogether.

In total, 34 players have been awarded BCCI contracts for the upcoming season, which runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025.

BCCI Central Contract List 2024–25:

Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant
Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
Grade C: 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 Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana.