The Grade A+ category will no longer exist under the new central contract structure that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) plans to implement. According to BCCI sources, Team India veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are anticipated to be assigned to Grade B if the board approves the new format.
Changes to the central contract structure have been proposed by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee. The committee has suggested leaving only three categories—A, B, and C—and eliminating the A+ category (Rs 7 crore). At the upcoming apex council meeting, more information on the financial adjustments and whether the BCCI will accept this new model is anticipated.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are now exclusive ODI players, are probably going to fall into Category B if the suggested model is accepted.
Indian cricketers in the A+, A, B, and C categories are given BCCI Central Contracts, which are yearly retainers with significant annual fees (Rs 7 crore for A+, Rs 5 crore for A, Rs 3 crore for B, and Rs 1 crore for C) in addition to match fees.
Rohit, Virat, Ravindra Jadeja, and Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah are in A+ on the 2024–25 list, which was revealed in April 2025. Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Team India Men’s ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, and Rishabh Pant are in Grade A.
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, and T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav are all in Grade B.
Grade C consists of Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, 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 and Harshit Rana.
