Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan return to BCCI central contracts for 2024-25; 34 players named

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on April 21 released the central contracts for the 2024–25 season, covering the period from October 2024 to September 2025. A total of 34 players have been named across four categories—A+, A, B, and C—marking an increase from last year’s 30 players. The top Grade A+ category, which carries an annual retainership of ₹7 crore, features Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja. Despite their retirement from T20 Internationals, the trio of Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja have been retained in the top bracket.

Rishabh Pant has been promoted to Grade A from Grade B, following his return to the Indian side. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who were left out of the 2023–24 central contracts due to disciplinary reasons, have returned this season. Iyer, who led Punjab Kings in IPL 2025 and played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy win, has been placed in Grade B, while Kishan—who has not played for India since November 2023 but was active in domestic cricket—has been named in Grade C.

The Grade B category includes Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Axar Patel, and Shreyas Iyer, offering an annual salary of ₹3 crore. Several new entrants were added to Grade C, including Rajat Patidar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, and Varun Chakaravarthy, all of whom made appearances for India in the past year across formats. Grade C players receive ₹1 crore annually. The BCCI also confirmed the exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin, who announced his retirement from international cricket, along with Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, and KS Bharat.

The contract structure remains unchanged: ₹7 crore for Grade A+, ₹5 crore for Grade A, ₹3 crore for Grade B, and ₹1 crore for Grade C. The list reflects the inclusion of experienced names along with emerging talent based on performance and participation across formats in the previous season. The announcement included players who had represented India in at least one format and those with consistent domestic records during the assessment period.

Full List of Players in BCCI Central Contracts 2024–25:

Grade A+:
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A:
Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed 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