Rohit & Kohli Downgraded; Gill, Bumrah & Jadeja in Top Tier of BCCI Contracts

In a major reshuffle of India’s central contracts for the 2025–26 season, the BCCI has downgraded Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to Grade B, while Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja now occupy the top bracket (₹5 crore).

The updated list was released by BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and marks one of the most significant shifts in the board’s grading structure in recent years.

Top Summary

What happened: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been moved to Grade B, while Gill, Bumrah and Jadeja are the only players in Grade A (₹5 crore).

Why it matters now: BCCI’s move reflects a stronger focus on all-format availability and future roadmap, with retired or single-format players seeing downgrades.

What changes for people: New contracts impact earnings, match workload planning, and indicate India’s evolving core across formats.

Who is affected: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill, and the 30 centrally contracted male players.

The overhaul shows clear prioritisation of multi-format players, with ageing stars and format-limited names pushed down the hierarchy.

Top Tier (₹5 crore): Gill, Bumrah, Jadeja

Only three players find a place in Grade A, signalling a leaner elite bracket:

Shubman Gill – India’s ODI & Test captain, all-format availability

Jasprit Bumrah – Managed workload, still India’s most valuable bowler

Ravindra Jadeja – Retired from T20Is but irreplaceable in Tests & ODIs

The surprise was Bumrah’s demotion from the now-scrapped Grade A+ (₹7 crore).

Grade B (₹3 crore): Rohit, Kohli among 12 names

A star-heavy middle tier includes:

Rohit Sharma – Retired from Tests & T20Is; single-format (ODIs)

Virat Kohli – Also a single-format player

KL Rahul

Hardik Pandya

Mohammed Siraj

Rishabh Pant

Kuldeep Yadav

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Suryakumar Yadav

Shreyas Iyer

This tier reflects players expected to be part of at least one major format.

Grade C (₹1 crore): Rising core & fringe regulars

The largest group features 15+ players, including:

Axar Patel

Tilak Varma

Rinku Singh

Sanju Samson

Arshdeep Singh

Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ravi Bishnoi

Sai Sudharsan

Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Nitish Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, and others

This grade showcases India’s next-gen bench-building strategy.

Why Rohit & Kohli were downgraded

Both have retired from multiple formats:

No longer part of Test cricket

Retired from T20Is

Limited to ODI involvement

BCCI’s grading criteria emphasise:

All-format importance

Availability across series

Long-term team planning

Thus, even the biggest legends face structural downgrades.

Why Bumrah’s downgrade surprised many

Even though Grade A+ was officially scrapped, many expected Bumrah to retain the absolute top tier.

Reasons for the shift:

India using him sparingly in bilateral series

Workload optimisation

New grading model aligning with availability over star value

Yet, his Grade A pay still reflects elite status.

Bottom line

The 2025–26 BCCI central contracts signal a generational transition:

Gill, Bumrah and Jadeja are India’s new core, while Rohit and Kohli officially move into single-format senior roles.

A younger, more flexible team structure is clearly taking shape.