The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the Annual Player Contracts for the Indian men’s cricket team for the 2024–25 season, covering the period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025..

TOP EARNERS RETAIN THEIR SPOTS

The elite Grade A+ category, which carries an annual retainership of Rs 7 crore, continues to feature some of Indian cricket’s biggest names. Team India’s captain Rohit Sharma and veteran batter Virat Kohli have retained their places in the top tier, alongside all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.

CATEGORY A: PANT MAKES A

STRONG RETURN

Grade A, which offers a salary of Rs 5 crore per annum, sees Rishabh Pant return after recovering from his near-fatal car accident, replacing the now-retired Ravichandran Ashwin. He joins an impressive list that includes Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Shami.

IYER BACK IN FOLD AFTER DOMESTIC CRICKET ROW

One of the most talked-about comebacks is Shreyas Iyer, who has been placed in Grade B (Rs 3 crore). He was previously excluded from the contract list for reportedly prioritizing IPL commitments over domestic tournaments. He is joined in this group by Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

ISHAN KISHAN RETURNS IN CATEGORY C

Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan, who also faced exclusion last season for similar reasons as Iyer, has been reinstated in Grade C with an annual retainership of Rs 1 crore. This category now includes the highest number of players 19 in total, including four new entrants.

NEW ENTRANTS IN GRADE C

The new names in Category C are:

• - Harshit Rana  
• - Varun Chakaravarthy  
• - Abhishek Sharma  
• - Nitish Kumar Reddy  

Other players in this group include Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, and Akash Deep.

FAST BOWLING CONTRACTS: NO MENTION THIS SEASON

Last season, BCCI had introduced *special fast bowling contracts* for select pacers. However, no update or continuation of that initiative has been mentioned in the latest announcement for the 2024–25 period.

COMPLETE LIST OF BCCI CENTRAL CONTRACTS (2024–25)

• Grade A+ (Rs 7 Crore)

• - Rohit Sharma  
• - Virat Kohli  
• - Jasprit Bumrah  
• - Ravindra Jadeja

• Grade A (Rs 5 Crore)

• - Mohammed Siraj  
• - KL Rahul  
• - Shubman Gill  
• - Hardik Pandya  
• - Mohammed Shami  
• - Rishabh Pant
• • Grade B (Rs 3 Crore)
• - Suryakumar Yadav  
• - Kuldeep Yadav  
• - Axar Patel  
• - Yashasvi Jaiswal  
• - Shreyas Iyer

• Grade C (Rs 1 Crore)

• - Rinku Singh  
• - Tilak Verma  
• - 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 Chakaravarthy  
• - Harshit Rana