Rishabh Pant over T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav in BCCI central contract, Axar Patel fails to make it to Grade A despite playing all three formats

Rishabh Pant who has been in dismal form, still had a better contract over Suryakumar Yadav.

Rishabh Pant over T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav in BCCI central contract, Axar Patel fails to make it to Grade A despite playing all three formats

Fans raised questions over Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant's BCCI contracts. (via DD News)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) most recently released the central contract list of players for the Indian men’s national cricket team. The revamped list features several new and existing names, and has managed to garner a lot of attention from cricket lovers from all around the country. 

The 34-player list has retained the existing format, with players being slotted into four different grades. These grades also differ in terms of salaries, with the players in grade A+ being paid INR 7 crores. Grade A players are paid INR 5 crores, Grade B players are paid INR 3 crores, while Grade C players are paid INR 1 crore. The new BCCI contracts will be valid from 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. 

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While the structure of BCCI’s central contract remains an equitable one, Indian cricket fans have, however, questioned the inclusion and exclusion of several key names in the various categories. One such criticism has been about wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant’s escalation to Grade A from B. He has been clubbed alongside Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami.

Fans questioned the BCCI for handing Pant, a Grade A contract, despite the 27-year-old having played only red-ball cricket for the national team over the past year. They noted the exclusion of all-rounder Axar Patel from the top two categories, despite his recent contributions across all formats. Patel has been doing exceptionally well with both the bat and the ball for the past few years.

The 31-year-old even played a crucial role in India’s 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy triumphs. Notably, Axar Patel was given the annual contract in the Grade B category last season as well, and has not been promoted this year too, despite his outstanding display. Additionally, Indian T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav’s inclusion in Grade B, alongside Patel has also sparked outrage.

The 34-year-old batter, who was handed the leadership role in the shortest format of the game following Rohit Sharma’s retirement, has also failed to gain a promotion to the upper echelon of the BCCI contract list. The other three players to be categorized in Grade B alongside Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav are Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer. 

Meanwhile, Grade A+, the premier category of BCCI’s central contract, comprises Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah. Many fans raised questions over Sharma, Kohli and Jadeja’s inclusion in the top-most category, despite the having retired from T20 cricket last year.

Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan return to BCCI’s central contract list, after being axed a year ago 

The axed duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan made a spectacular return to the BCCI’s central contract list, which has been named for the new cricketing season ahead. The two batters had been left out last season for allegedly ignoring domestic cricket for international cricket and the Indian Premier League.

Shreyas Iyer Ishan Kishan BCCI contract
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan got back their place in BCCI’s Central contract list for the year. (via NDTV Sports)

Shreyas Iyer has been re-inducted in Grade B of the BCCI central contract list, and will earn an annual salary of INR 3 crores. It comes following the 30-year-old’s strong comeback in Team India’s victorious Champions Trophy campaign, where he ended as the second highest run-getter with 243 runs. Ishan Kishan on the other hand, has been handed a Grade C contract, commanding a salary of INR 1 crores. 

Apart from these two players, several other new players have also made their way into the BCCI’s contract list. Youngsters Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit Rana are the new inductees in Grade C.