BCCI central contracts to be released in next few days

BCCI Logo. (Source - BCCI)

It has been understood that the players of have been offered central contracts by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and that the entire list will be disclosed on Monday, April 21. This list of cricketers applies to the 2025–26 season.

It is highly unlikely that the list will contain a lot of surprises. It is also reported the BCCI may consider accomodating a few emerging talents who may not completely make the cut to earn the central retainership. According to the BCCI standard policy, "athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of three Tests or eight ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis".

The explosive Southpaw, Abhishek Sharma (17 T20Is), is expected to be included in the Grade C category. The classification assures an amount of INR 1 crore. Talented all-rounder, Nitish Kumar Reddy (five Tests, four T20Is), is also well and truly in contention to be a part of the list. There is also a strong likelihood, according to Cricbuzz, that Harshit Rana (two Tests, five ODIs and one T20I) will also be one of the players to be included, despite not meeting the aforementioned criteria.   

As per previous reports, Varun Chakravarthy (four ODIs and 18 T20Is) will be included as well. One of the prominent performers in the recently-concluded edition of the Champions Trophy, Shreyas Iyer, should also make it. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja will continue to be included in the A+ category. Not a lot of changes are expected to be made in the gradings.

The central contracts are expected to be announced in a couple of days' time in tandem with the changes to the support staff multiple sides of the international outfit. The decisions regarding the same are understood to have been taken in the recent past.