Kamal Ghorui
New Delhi: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) last month removed the A+ category from its players’ retainership system, citing there weren’t enough candidates to qualify for the gradation. However, TOI understands that the board may be compelled to revisit the valuation structure of the existing gradation of contracts to ensure consistent-performing players don’t lose money that they were receiving till last year. Top of the list is India’s premier fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has consistently received the Grade A+ contracts since its inception for the 2018-19 season. It is learnt that the board hasn’t officially communicated the value of the contracts this season. As per the previous system, Grade A+ players got Rs 7 cr, while Grade A, B and C players received Rs 5 cr, Rs 3 cr and Rs 1 cr, respectively. BCCI, while announcing this year’s retainership, didn’t mention the amount for each category. It is learnt the players too have not yet been told officially about the worth of their contracts.
Grade A+ was reserved for players who commanded their place in all three formats and had a world ranking in the top 10 in any one format. Since Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from two formats, along with Ravindra Jadeja calling it quits from T20Is, the board was left with just Bumrah. The flashpoint with the current contract system stems from here because Bumrah, despite maintaining command over all three formats, was put in Grade A this year by default. At present, only Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja feature in Grade A. “The board is trying to figure out how Bumrah can be compensated. It is understandable that it will be unfair to slash his fees from Rs 7 cr to Rs 5 cr. There are some other players also who seem to have moved down a grade despite being performers. There could be a revision in the valuation of the contracts,” a BCCI source told TOI. The other name that is debated is India’s T20I vice-captain Axar Patel, who has been an integral part of the T20I and ODI set-up in the 2024-25 season. Axar has been given a Grade C contract, which was valued at Rs 1 cr till last year. India have tasted one of their most successful years in white-ball cricket in the 2024-25 season, for which the contracts have been awarded. Test cricket has seen lows at home and in Australia, with the high of levelling the five-Test series in England in between. TOI has accessed the official criteria which were devised when Grade A+ was introduced in 2018-19. As per the document, for a Grade A contract, a player must fulfil any two of the following four criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, among the top 15 in world rankings, automatic selection in the Test team with 40 or more matches. A Grade B contract demands a player fulfil any two of the following criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, among the top 20 in world rankings, automatic selection in the Test team with 60 or more matches. Interestingly, Axar was world No. 11 all-rounder in T20Is in 2025 and had also played a critical role in India’s triumph, which makes it two out of four for qualifying for Grade A or Grade B contracts. Even if the BCCI altered the criteria in the last three years, a minimum of a Grade B contract seemed viable. It will be interesting to see if the board has revised the criteria for this year as well. In addition to Bumrah and Axar, there are other players like KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant who have been pushed to Grade B from Grade A. It must be noted that Rahul has been a consistent performer in Tests and ODIs, while Siraj and Pant had an exceptional Test tour of England. Pandya too has been a core member of India’s ODI and T20I sides. BCCI, historically, has considered the injury layoffs of players and has ensured players were not penalised for missing cricket due to injuries.
