Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma set to be demoted in BCCI central contracts: Report

When the list for BCCI central contracts for the 2025–2026 season is released, batting greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are probably going to be demoted to the second tier of the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) annual retainership contracts.  

The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has recommended eliminating the A-plus category from the four-tier annual retainership structure, according to reports from ANI and IANS. 

The senior men's team contracts have not yet been finalized by the BCCI, hence these are only recommendations. The proposal from the selection committee will be reviewed in the board's upcoming apex council meeting, according to sources.

"A possibility of change in the grading system in India men's central contracts will come for discussion in the next BCCI Apex Council meeting. The Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee is learnt to have made some proposals and it will be discussed in the Apex Council meeting, for which a date will be announced in due course of time," sources told IANS.

Indian cricket players are offered substantial yearly retainers through the BCCI's central contracts. The overall worth of the four categories—A+, A, B, and C—is Rs 7 crore, Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore, and Rs 1 crore, respectively. Additional perks for players on the contract list include year-round access to the Center of Excellence and medical assistance for injuries and recovery. 

According to rumors, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will probably be put in the B category if the A-plus category is eliminated.

Since the top group is reserved for players who appear in at least two formats, it was always clear that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would not stay there. In the 2024–2025 contracts, the two were in the A-plus category with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

However, both Kohli and Rohit withdrew from Test cricket in 2025 and now only participate in ODIs. The 2024–25 season's yearly retainership was granted, taking into account the time frame from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. 

Whether Jadeja will continue to be in the top bracket is still up in the air. Shubman Gill, who has been promoted to captain in both Tests and One-Day Internationals, is probably going to advance to the top division.

Existing BCCI Annual Retainership Contracts:

A+: Rs. 7 crore

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja.

A: Rs. 5 crore

Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant.

B: Rs. 3 crore

Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer.

C:Rs. 1 crore

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.

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