Kohli, Rohit Demoted to B Category as BCCI Revamps Central Contracts for 2025-26

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, two of Indian cricket’s biggest stars, have been moved from the top bracket to the B category in the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) central contracts list for the 2025-26 season.

According to a report in Dainik Jagran, the BCCI has scrapped the A+ category and reorganised men’s contracts into three groups — A, B, and C. Traditionally, the top bracket has been reserved for players who feature across all three formats, making the downgrade of Kohli and Rohit unsurprising.

Both players now compete only in One Day Internationals, having retired from Tests and T20 Internationals. Despite their limited-format involvement, the duo has remained in strong form in ODIs in recent months.

Only Three Players in Top Bracket

With the removal of the A+ grade, only three players have been placed in the top A category: Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

The B category includes Kohli and Rohit along with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer. A total of 11 players feature in this group.

The C category comprises 16 players, including Axar Patel, Abhishek Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Uncertainty Over New Pay Structure

Previously, the BCCI’s central contracts were divided into four categories — A+, A, B, and C — with annual retainers of ₹7 crore, ₹5 crore, ₹3 crore, and ₹1 crore respectively.

With the A+ category now removed, the new payment structure for the 2025-26 season has not yet been announced, raising questions over how player remuneration will be adjusted.

Full Men’s Central Contracts List (2025-26)

A Category:
Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

B Category:
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer

C Category:
Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Varun Chakaravarthy, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad