Agarkar-led committee suggests removal of A+ category in central contracts, Rohit-Kohli to get demotion if BCCI approves

UPDATED: Jan 20, 2026 10:50 AM IST

Agarkar-led committee suggests removal of A+ category in central contracts, Rohit-Kohli to get demotion if BCCI approves

Chief selector Ajit Agarkar speaks at a press conference; India's senior pros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during 1st ODI against New Zealand.

Story Highlights:

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee wants the A+ category removed.

India's one-format players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli are likely to be put in Category B.

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has suggested changes in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) central contracts. Sports Tak has learnt that Agarkar wants the A+ category to be removed. If the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) approves it upon discussion in the next apex council meeting, it will mean that there will be only three categories left – A, B and C.

Currently, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are in A+ category. The A+ contract is worth Rs 7 crore. Players in Grade A, B and C get Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.

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Rohit, Kohli to be put in Category B?

India’s one-format players Rohit and Kohli are likely to be put in Category B if the proposed model is approved. However, it is not clear what will be the fee for each category.

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List of BCCI’s centrally contracted players (2024-25) -

Grade A: Mohammed 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.