Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja in BCCI’s Top Tier
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled its list of contracted male players for the 2025-26 season, featuring Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja in the elite Category A. This marks a notable elevation for Shubman Gill, who has taken over the captaincy for both Test and ODI formats from Rohit Sharma last year.
All contracts cover October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026, and reflect changes in player standings. Former captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are now limited to one format of international cricket, have been reassigned to Category B. This category now includes players who were previously in A+ and A grades.
Notable Adjustments in the BCCI Contracts
The former A+ grade, previously occupied by Kohli, Rohit, Bumrah, and Jadeja, has been discontinued. The moving up of Washington Sundar to Category B suggests a consolidation of Grade A and B players into a single class. The list in general has been trimmed down from 34 to 30 players, with Mohammed Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, and others no longer contracted.
Despite being a significant player in white-ball formats and the vice-captain for T20 World Cup, Axar Patel has been demoted to Category C. Until now, the BCCI has not disclosed any financial details regarding these contract categories.
Complete List of Contracted Players for 2025-26
- Category A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja.
- Category B: Washington Sundar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer.
- Category C: Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, B Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad.
These contract allocations highlight the dynamic shifts within Indian cricket, as emerging talents gain recognition and seasoned players like Kohli and Sharma make way for upcoming stars.
