BCCI Central Contracts: Iyer and Kishan Return; Pant Gains Promotion

Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been reinstated in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) central contracts roster for the 2024-25 season, following their omission from the previous list.

The top-tier A+ grade continues to feature four key players: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.

The lineup in the highest grade remains consistent, with R. Ashwin’s departure after retiring from international cricket last year being the only change.

Despite their T20I retirement announcement post-India’s 2024 T20 World Cup victory, Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja remain in the top-tier category.

Rishabh Pant has been elevated from Grade B to Grade A, joining prominent players such as Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Shami.

Pant, previously demoted to Grade B after a year-long absence due to a car accident in December 2022, made his international comeback in 2024. He has since participated in ten Tests, one ODI, and ten T20Is, securing his return to Grade A.

Shreyas Iyer is now classified under Grade B, alongside Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20I captain.

Iyer had previously lost his contract due to missing the domestic season, citing back issues. Ishan Kishan, who chose to play in the DY Patil T20 tournament instead of returning to domestic cricket for Jharkhand, has been placed in Grade C.

However, Kishan did rejoin domestic cricket for Jharkhand in the 2024-25 season.

A new group of players has been added to the contracts list, including Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana, all of whom are placed in Grade C.

Conversely, players like Shardul Thakur, KS Bharat, Avesh Khan, and Jitesh Sharma have been removed from the list.

While the BCCI has not disclosed the exact contract amounts, they are estimated to be INR 7 crore for A+, INR 5 crore for A, INR 3 crore for B, and INR 1 crore for C.

Iyer’s return to the BCCI structure follows a strong performance across formats. Since March 2024, he has been part of five title-winning teams and captained Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to an IPL title.

He also played a crucial role in India’s Champions Trophy victory, finishing as the second-highest scorer with 243 runs in five innings.

List of contracted players for 2024-25

  • Category A+ – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja
  • Category A – Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant
  • Category B – Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer
  • Category C – 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 Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana