By Robert 
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the central contracts for the Indian men’s national team for the 2024-25 season, valid from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. A total of 34 players have been included across four categories — A+, A, B, and C — with several notable inclusions, exclusions, and a promotion grabbing headlines.
Key Highlights:
- Rishabh Pant has been promoted from Category B to Category A, marking a major step in his comeback.
- Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been brought back into the central contracts list.
- Seven players have earned their maiden BCCI central contracts.
- Ravichandran Ashwin is the only major exit from the top ranks, having retired from international cricket earlier this year.
Grade-wise Breakdown:
Grade A+ (4 Players):
No changes here — the elite group continues to feature:
- Rohit Sharma
- Virat Kohli
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A (6 Players):
A big move sees Rishabh Pant join this tier, alongside:
- Mohammed Shami
- Mohammed Siraj
- KL Rahul
- Shubman Gill
- Hardik Pandya
- (R. Ashwin excluded post-retirement)
Grade B (5 Players):
Shreyas Iyer makes a return to the list and joins:
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Axar Patel
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
Grade C (19 Players):
The most churned category, with multiple new faces including:
- Rinku Singh
- Tilak Varma
- Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Washington Sundar
- Mukesh Kumar
- Sanju Samson
- Arshdeep Singh
- Prasidh Krishna
- Rajat Patidar
- Dhruv Jurel (New)
- Sarfaraz Khan (New)
- Nitish Reddy (New)
- Ishan Kishan (Returns)
- Abhishek Sharma (New)
- Akash Deep (Promoted from Fast Bowling contract)
- Varun Chakaravarthy (New)
- Harshit Rana (New)
New Entrants:
- Dhruv Jurel
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Nitish Reddy
- Ishan Kishan
- Abhishek Sharma
- Varun Chakaravarthy
- Harshit Rana
- Shreyas Iyer
- Akash Deep
Dropped from Contracts:
- Shardul Thakur
- Jitesh Sharma
- KS Bharat
- Avesh Khan
- Vijaykumar Vyshak
- Umran Malik
- Yash Dayal
- Vidwath Kaverappa
With this reshuffle, the BCCI continues to back performance and potential, rewarding consistent players while also signaling the end of the road for a few familiar names — at least for now.