Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to lose BCCI Grade A+ Contract in 2026 - World Cup hopes ruined for Indian veterans

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, that is, the BCCI, will be announcing the central contracts for the season of 2026-27 anytime soon. As per speculations and recent reports from renowned sports journalists, it is evident that this is going to be full of surprises, like most of India's recent affairs in the game. 

While some players, who have been considered as the future of the Indian team in the long run, might be promoted and given newer roles with the BCCI, players who have retired from a format or two, or players who have been affected by injury concerns, are likely to face the BCCI's axe. 

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to lose A+ status in BCCI contracts 

Indian greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been great servants to Indian cricket for over a decade now. They have been accorded the due respect by the BCCI over all these years; however, that has not been the case under Ajit Agarkar and Gautam Gambhir's era. 

After the controversy over the sudden retirement from Test cricket, especially for Virat Kohli, the controversy heightened with the uncertainty over a spot for the two veterans in the ODI team and their chances to play in the ICC World Cup 2027. However, Rohit and Virat turned the tables with their commendable return to international limited-overs cricket. 

The recent buzz suggests that the BCCI is looking to make some restructured reforms within the central contracts, and some shocking demotion ideas have also prevailed. 

Indian greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma might be demoted from a Grade A+ contract and handed a Grade A or B contract by the BCCI. They have coined this as the consequence of featuring in just one format internationally. 

Alongside Rohit and Kohli, some reports have also claimed that the likes of two other A+ contract holders, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, might also be demoted in stature, despite the fact that Bumrah is a key asset across all three formats. 

New Dawn of Indian cricket: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma and Arshdeep Singh to receive massive contract promotions 

While some may be demoted, and some, like veteran pacer Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar, might be excluded from the central contracts, some cricketers will be relishing promotions and hikes from the BCCI. 

The frontrunner for the category would be Indian Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, who is very likely to be promoted to the A+ category. Alongside him, KL Rahul can also be given the status. 

The likes of Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Axar Patel and Abhishek Sharma can be cited for a promotion into Grade A of central contracts, while players like Jitesh Sharma might be hoping for a maiden contract. 

Current BCCI Contracts held by Indian cricketers:

Grade A+: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Grade A: Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Hardik Pandya.

Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Shreyas Iyer, Kuldeep Yadav, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana.

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