After their stellar performances for the country and various leagues, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been handed BCCI’s central contract. A total of 34 players have been awarded the BCCI’s central contract, which will be valid from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. Seven players have secured the BCCI’s central contract for the first time.
The contract of 34 players has retained the earlier format, where players are slotted into four categories: A+, A, B, and C. Only four players, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja, have made it to the A+ category. Unlike last year, the BCCI has not released the fast bowling contracts this year.
BCCI Central Contract Categories and Players
The following are different BCCI central contract categories and players under those categories:
Grade A+ (4 Players)

Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli

Jasprit Bumrah

Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A (6 Players)

Rishabh Pant

Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Siraj

KL Rahul

Shubman Gill

Hardik Pandya
Grade B (5 Players)

Suryakumar Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav

Axar Patel

Shreyas Iyer

Yashasvi Jaiswal
Grade C (19 Players)

Rinku Singh

Tilak Varma

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Shivam Dube

Ravi Bishnoi

Washington Sundar

Mukesh Kumar

Sanju Samson

Arshdeep Singh

Prasidh Krishna

Rajat Patidar

Dhruv Jurel

Sarfaraz Khan

Nitish Reddy

Ishan Kishan

Abhishek Sharma

Akash Deep

Varun Chakaravarthy

Harshit Rana
Players IN & OUT for this BCCI’s Central Contract
While some players who were part of the BCCI’s central contract last year have missed out, there are some players who have been added who were not part of the BCCI’s central contract last year.
IN Players
- Dhruv Jurel
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Nitish Reddy
- Ishan Kishan
- Abhishek Sharma
- Varun Chakaravarthy
- Harshit Rana
- Shreyas Iyer
- Akash Deep
OUT Players
- Shardul Thakur
- Jitesh Sharma
- KS Bharath
- Avesh Khan
- Vijaykumar Vyshak
- Umran Malik
- Yash Dayal
- Vidwath Kaverappa
Concluding Thoughts
34 players have been handed the central contract by the BCCI, with Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan being the notable returns. While Rishabh Pant has been promoted from B category to A category, Ravichandran Ashwin was dropped from the central contract as he has retired. With no special contract for fast bowlers, many fast bowlers miss out on a central contract this year.
🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🚨
— BCCI (@BCCI) April 21, 2025
BCCI announces annual player retainership 2024-25 - Team India (Senior Men)#TeamIndia
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