Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan return to BCCI central contracts for 2024-25

Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have made a comeback to the BCCI's central contracts list for the 2024-25 season, after being excluded in the previous cycle.

The A+ grade, which is the highest tier, retains four prominent players—Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja. 

The inclusion of these players remains unchanged, with R. Ashwin, who retired from international cricket late last year, being dropped. 

Despite announcing their retirement from T20Is after India's victorious T20 World Cup campaign in 2024, Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja continue to be part of this prestigious tier.

Rishabh Pant has seen a rise from Grade B to Grade A, alongside notable players like Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Shami. 

Pant, who had previously been demoted to Grade B after a year-long absence following a car crash in December 2022, returned to international cricket in 2024. Since his recovery, Pant has played in ten Tests, one ODI, and ten T20Is, earning him a place back in Grade A.

Shreyas Iyer is now included in Grade B, joining the ranks of Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. 

Iyer had previously lost his contract after missing the domestic season, citing back spasms. Ishan Kishan, who had opted to play in the DY Patil T20 tournament instead of returning to domestic cricket for Jharkhand, has been placed in Grade C. 

However, he later rejoined domestic cricket in the 2024-25 season for Jharkhand.

A fresh batch of players has entered the contracts list, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana all placed in Grade C.

On the other hand, players like Shardul Thakur, KS Bharat, Avesh Khan, and Jitesh Sharma have been dropped from the list. 

Although the BCCI did not disclose specific contract amounts, it is believed that they are as follows: INR 7 crore for A+, INR 5 crore for A, INR 3 crore for B, and INR 1 crore for C.

Iyer’s return to the BCCI fold follows an impressive run of form across formats. Since March 2024, he has been part of five title-winning teams, including captaining Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to an IPL victory. 

He also played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy triumph, finishing as the second-highest run-scorer with 243 runs in five innings.

List of contracted players for 2024-25

Category A+ - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Category A - Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant

Category B - Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer

Category C - Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, 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 Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana