The BCCI has released the new list of central contracts for players, abolishing the A+ category. Players are now classified only into A, B, and C categories. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been placed in the B category, while Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja are in the A category. This decision has been taken due to a reduction in the number of players participating across all three formats.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) released the list of central contracts for players on Monday. The BCCI has abolished the A+ category, now dividing players only into A, B, and C categories. As reported by Dainik Jagran on February 7, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were to be moved from the A+ category to the B category, and that has now been implemented. The A category now includes only three players: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.
Rohit, Kohli Placed in B Category; BCCI Yet to Announce Salaries
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been placed in the B category due to playing only in the ODI format. However, the BCCI has not yet disclosed the salaries for players in the new categories. Previously, players in the A+ category received ₹7 crore annually. Similarly, the A category players earned ₹5 crore per year, B category players ₹3 crore, and C category players ₹1 crore annually.
A+ Category Introduced on MS Dhoni Suggestion, Now Discontinued
It is understood that the A+ category was introduced by the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators on the suggestion of former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This category was meant for players performing exceptionally across all three formats, and over the years, only Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah have been part of it. Now, three of them have stepped away from one or two formats, and the board does not want to keep Bumrah as the sole player in the A+ category. Shubman Gill has not yet committed to playing across all formats, and he was not included in the T20 World Cup squad.
Updated Central Contracts for Indian Cricketers
- A Category: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja
- B Category: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer
- C Category: Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad
