The BCCI Contract list for the 2024-25 season has come out officially with 34 centrally contracted players, an increase of 30 from last season. There are some dramatic changes in the list, namely the return of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan and the promotion of Rishabh Pant to the next pay grade.
Top-Tier (A+) BCCI Contract Holders
The top Category A+ keeps four of India’s most seasoned cricketers:
Rohit Sharma
Virat Kohli
Jasprit Bumrah
Ravindra Jadeja
Seasoned spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has been omitted from this category after he retired from international cricket late in 2023.
Category A: Rishabh Pant Joins the Club
The Category A of the BCCI Contract now comprises:
Mohammed Siraj
KL Rahul
Shubman Gill
Hardik Pandya
Mohammed Shami
Rishabh Pant (promoted from Grade B)
Pant’s comeback to top-class cricket following his accident and come back has also deservedly elevated him to Grade B.
Category B: Shreyas Iyer Returns
Some of the players who own a Grade B contract include several high-impact players, like Shreyas Iyer, who was left out of the contract list a year ago but returns strongly:
Suryakumar Yadav
Kuldeep Yadav
Axar Patel
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Shreyas Iyer
Category C: Ishan Kishan Returns, Many New Faces Onboard
Ishan Kishan takes a spot in Category C of the BCCI Contract, his first return to the central contract list. The bottom rung also welcomes several bright new faces:
Rinku Singh
Tilak Varma
Ruturaj Gaikwad
Shivam Dube
Ravi Bishnoi
Washington Sundar
Mukesh Kumar
Sanju Samson
Arshdeep Singh
Prasidh Krishna
Rajat Patidar
Dhruv Jurel (new)
Sarfaraz Khan (new)
Nitish Kumar Reddy (new)
Ishan Kishan
Abhishek Sharma (new)
Akash Deep (new)
Varun Chakravarthy (new)
Harshit Rana (new)
Dropped from the BCCI Contract List
The following players, who were in Grade C earlier, have not been retained this year:
Shardul Thakur
KS Bharat
Avesh Khan
Jitesh Sharma
BCCI Contract Salary Structure (Unofficial Estimates)
Although the BCCI has not made the pay ranges official, ESPNcricinfo has reported the following probable annual retainer figures:
Category A+: ₹7 crore
Category A: ₹5 crore
Category B: ₹3 crore
Category C: ₹1 crore
Conclusion: A Progressive BCCI Contract List for 2024-25
The BCCI Contract 2024-25 is a mix of stability and new opportunities. The comeback of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan marks renewed trust, while new additions such as Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan mark a strong emphasis on developing young players. With 34 centrally contracted players now, Indian cricket is well set for a competitive future.
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