The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the Central Contract for the 2025-26 season on Monday, 21st April 2025. 7 new players were added to the contract, while players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan returned to the list after missing out last time.

Last year, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were left out of the BCCI central contract after opting out of the domestic games for their respective state teams. BCCI's focus on domestic cricket left them out of the central contract despite being part of the Indian team set up a few months ago.

But, this time, both the Indian batters were added to the contract after Iyer won everything in the domestic cricket last season, along with lifting the IPL 2024 with Kolkata Knight Riders. Ishan Kishan also played through the entire domestic season and has been rewarded with the contract too.

Read Also | "Mere Sath Kyun?.:" Ishan Kishan breaks silence on Team India exit and Central Contract termination

Talking points from the BCCI Central Contract 2025

Rohit and Kohli stay in Grade A+

Talking points from the BCCI Central Contract 2025 -Rohit and Kohli stay in Grade A+ | sportzpoint.com

Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remained in the Grade A+ category despite retiring from the T20I format. Rohit and Virat had announced their retirement from the shortest format of the game after lifting the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies.

Ravindra Jadeja is another name who has been listed in the A+ category despite retiring from the T20Is after the World Cup victory.

Bumrah is the only all-format player in A+

Talking points from the BCCI Central Contract 2025: Bumrah is the only all-format player in A+ | sportzpoint.com

With Rohit, Kohli and Jadeja retiring from the shortest format of the game, Jasprit Bumrah remains the only all-format player to be in the A+ category of the BCC Central Contract 2025.

Pant is promoted to the Grade A category

Talking points from the BCCI Central Contract 2025: Pant is promoted to the Grade A category | sportzpoint.com

Rishabh Pant received a promotion to the A category after being in the B category last year. Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami are the other names in the A category, who were already there in last year's contract.

Ravi Ashwin has been left out of the contract since he retired from international cricket.

Iyer listed in grade B; Kishan in grade C

Talking points from the BCCI Central Contract 2025: Shreyas Iyer listed in grade B; Kishan in grade C | sportzpoint.com

Shreyas Iyer, who was left out of the contract last year, has been included in the Grade B, while Ishan Kishan has been listed in the Grade C.

Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the other names in Grade B, who were there last time as well.

New 7 names in Grade C

Dhruv Jurel, Sarafraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep were added to BCCI central contract 2025 | sportzpoint.com — Nitish Kumar Reddy was among the seven new names in the BCCI Central Contract. Image | Assoicated Press

7 new players have been added to the BCCI Central Contract 2025. All of these players found themselves in Grade C.

Dhruv Jurel, Sarafraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep are the players who received the contract for their performances in the last season.

Not to be confused, Akash Deep earlier had a fast bowling contract and this year received the central contract after doing well in the Test format.

Shardul Thakur, Jitesh Sharma, KS Bharath, Avesh Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa have been left out of the contract this year.

Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa were all part of the fast bowling contract last season.

BCCI Central Contract 2025

BCCI announces annual player retainership 2024-25 - Team India (Senior Men) 💙🤝#Bcci #IndianCricket #Viratkohli #RohitSharma #jaspritbumrah #Shreyasiyer #KlRahul #HardikPandya #Ipl2025 pic.twitter.com/LSmlg06QOS
— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) April 21, 2025

Grade A+ (4 Athletes): Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A (6 Athletes): Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya

Grade B (5 Athletes): Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Grade C (19 Athletes): Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarafraz Khan, Nitish Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakaravarthy and Harshit Rana

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