BCCI postpones meeting for men's central contracts, England tour preparations with Gautam Gambhir, Ajit Agarkar: All you need to know

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) meeting which was scheduled to take place on March 29 in Guwahati has been postponed. At the meeting, men's team players' central contracts and discussions regarding India's tour of England were set to take place. There is no clarity over when the meeting will take place. 

Earlier this month, Sports Tak had reported that the BCCI will meet head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar. The main agendas of the meeting will be the central contracts and the successor of Test captain Rohit Sharma.

Rohit, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are expected to retain their A-plus contract. However, there is a question mark over Rohit's Test future. Also, it will be a crucial tour for Kohli who started well on Australia tour but was dismissed cheaply in following appearances.

Additions to the central contract list

Shreyas Iyer who played a major role in India's ICC Champions Trophy 2025 triumph, scoring the most runs, is likely to get a central contract again. Iyer was dropped from the retainership list as he missed a domestic match. Along with Mumbai batter, wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan faced a snub as well. 

Meanwhile, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is set to get his first ever central contract with the BCCI. After a stellar run in the T20I series at home against England, Chakravarthy made his ODI debut and was a last-minute addition to the Champions Trophy 2025 squad. He had an exceptional redemption in Dubai as he rattled batters in spin-friendly conditions. 

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Big series in England

A few weeks after the Indian Premier League (IPL), India will tour England for a five-Test series starting on June 20. This will be India's first Test series of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle.

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Earlier, it was also reported that Gambhir will travel with India 'A' for two-match series which will feature the likes of Karun Nair and other senior players to help them adapt to the English conditions. 

Women's team central contract announced

Earlier this week, the BCCI had announced the central contract for women players. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma were put in A category.