India's ODI and Test skipper Shubman Gill in all likelihood in line for a big promotion as Sports Tak has learnt that he is expected to be moved up to the A+ category when Board of Control for cricket in India (BCCI) announces its next round of annual central contracts.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's central contract demotion on cards; A+ for Gill
The BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM) is scheduled to convene on Monday, December 22, immediately following the conclusion of the T20I series between India vs South Africa T20I series. Sports Tak understands that, besides the decision on Shubman Gill's category, the meeting will also address whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be retained on the central contract list.
This discussion arises because both senior players now participate in only one format of the game, namely One Day Internationals (ODIs).Rohit and Virat retired from Test cricket earlier this year following India’s disappointing tour of Australia during the 2024–2025 season.
However, both players have continued to excel in the ODI format by reinventing their games, demonstrated by their excellent form during the recently concluded three-match series against South Africa. In the last contract cycle, only four Indian players received the top-tier A+ contracts from the BCCI: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja, making them eligible to receive an annual remuneration of Rs 7 crore from the board.
BCCI Central Contracts 2024-25 - list of players:
Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A: Md. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Md. Shami, Rishabh Pant
Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
Grade C: 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, Harshit Rana
The annual retainers provided by the BCCI to Indian cricketers are highly lucrative and structured into four distinct categories. These categories are designated as A+, A, B, and C, with corresponding financial values of Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore, and Rs 1 crore, respectively. In addition to the substantial annual retainer amount, players who are part of the central contract list receive several crucial supplementary benefits. These perks include year-round access to the National Cricket Academy's Centre of Excellence, as well as dedicated support from the BCCI's medical staff for injury management and rehabilitation processes.