Mumbai: Ever since the A+ category has been added to Indian cricket’s annual contract for men, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah have enjoyed a pride of place.
The three leading stars are expected to keep their place in the 2024-25 contract list, HT learns, despite Virat and Rohit’s T20I retirement following India’s 2024 World Cup win. That’s because of a quirk in BCCI functioning where contracts are announced following a backdated review.
The last retainer declared by the BCCI for 2023-24 also saw all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja added to the top-most category. He, too, is expected to keep his place even though the senior spinner joined Virat and Rohit in ending his T20I career.
When the national selectors firm up the new contract list in the coming days, they will be looking at performances between October 2023-September 2024. This period saw some of India’s finest performances in white-ball cricket with the runners up finish in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 title triumph. All the leading performers in these tournaments and from the home Test win against England will be rewarded.
“That’s the base of the next round of contracts,” a BCCI official said. “There will be a move to advance the next review by six months because there’s so much more that has transpired by the time the review is conducted that people base their judgements on that.”
Following the T20 World Cup win, India was blanked for the first time at home in a three-match Test series by New Zealand, they lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under and lost out in the World Test Championship final. The Champions Trophy title triumph last fortnight brought some cheer.
When the 2025-26 contracts are decided coming October, these performances will be majorly taken into consideration. That’s when there could be a big churn in the contract list. All-format play is a major consideration to make it to the ₹7 crore A+ list. Other than the three big T20I retirements, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin declared international retirement from all formats, last December.
Effects of transition
With Indian cricket undergoing transition, the next line of all-format players is still taking shape. Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant are the brightest prospects but still have some work to do across formats. Gill has not lit up the stage in formats other than ODIs yet. Pant’s best performances have come in Test cricket.
It’s almost certain that Shreyas Iyer will win back his India contract based on his showings in the 23’ ODI World Cup. He was in B category in 22-23 and would have made the cut, but for his disagreement with the BCCI medical team over his injury status and domestic availability.
“He played in the entire domestic season and that’s all that was expected of him. He also picked up form during these matches that helped him in the Champions Trophy,” the board official said.
On similar lines, Ishan Kishan, who was a squad regular across formats for India, when he was dropped for missing domestic cricket, could be back too.
Mohammed Shami could miss out on the contract list as he missed all the action, nursing injuries. Although, exceptions can be made if players are on the mend from injury. Hardik Pandya was the only one not to play Test cricket to feature in category A, last year. His showings in the T20 World Cup win and his unique skill sets may help him retain his top billing.
Those playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is during the review period are automatically included in the ₹1 crore Grade C list. Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan will make the cut. Yashasvi Jaiswal who had a great start to his Test career, impressed in T20Is and is pushing for an ODI berth could get a promotion from his Grade B status.