New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the central contracts for the 2025-26 season. Only three players have been placed in Grade A this year.
For the 2025-26 season, the BCCI awarded central contracts to 30 male cricketers. The A+ category has been removed this time. Grade A includes only Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile, Indian cricket stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been demoted to Grade B.
India’s T20 World Cup vice-captain Axar Patel has been placed in Grade C, a decision that former Indian cricketer and current commentator Akash Chopra has criticized.
Akash Chopra Questions Axar Patel’s Grade
Chopra took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his disappointment. He wrote, “What more does Axar Patel have to do to get what he deserves? A three-format player and vice-captain in one format… and he’s in Grade C?”
Axar Patel plays a vital role in all three formats for India, making the Grade C placement controversial among fans and experts.
Other Players Also Questioned by Chopra
Chopra also questioned why players like KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, and Kuldeep Yadav were not placed in Grade A. He added that Arshdeep Singh should not have been in Grade C either.
He commented, “If Jadeja and Gill are in Grade A, why aren’t Hardik, Rahul, and Kuldeep? Even Arshdeep should not have been in Grade C.”
BCCI Central Contract List 2025-26
- Grade A: Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah
- Grade B: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul
- Grade C: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sai Sudharsan, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Arshdeep Singh, Akashdeep, Varun Chakravarthy, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel, Prasidh Krishna
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