Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan return to BCCI central contracts list; Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma in A+ category

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the men's central contracts list for the 2024-25 season on Monday. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are in the Grade A+ category, while Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have made their return to the central contracts list.

Shreyas Iyer has been placed in the B category, while Ishan Kishan is in the C category. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lost out on their central contracts last year after skipper domestic cricket.

Shreyas Iyer did not turn up for the Ranji Trophy tie in February 2024, citing an injury concern. Ishan Kishan opted out of the Ranji Trophy for Jharkhand after taking a small break from competitive cricket.

For the uninitiated, as per the BCCI's policy, cricketers who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period of time are automatically included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis.

The BCCI pays the Grade A+ players an annual remuneration of INR 7 crore, while Grade A players receive INR 5 crore. Grade B cricketers get INR 3 crore, while players in the Grade C category get INR 1 crore each.

Varun Chakavararthy is the newest entrant in the BCCI's central contracts list following his heroics in the ICC Men's Champions Trophy. Ravichandran Ashwin is no longer on the list after retiring from international cricket in December 2024.

Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Abhishek Sharma have also earned their maiden BCCI central contracts. Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, and KS Bharat have been excluded as their names are not on the central contracts list for the 2024-25 season.

India's T20I captain, Suryakumar Yadav, is in the Grade B category. At the same time, ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya is in the Grade A category alongside Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant.

Rishabh Pant has been promoted and elevated from Grade B to Grade A.

Opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal and all-rounder Axar Patel are also in the Grade B category. The likes of Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad are on the Grade C list.

Here is the full list of BCCI Men's Central Contracts for the 2024-25 season

Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

Grade A: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant.

Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer.

Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Harshit Rana.