India’s Test and ODI captain, Shubman Gill, is likely to earn a promotion in the BCCI’s annual contract. He is set to be moved to the A+ category after taking over the leadership responsibility and has found success in it. The star batter finished as the leading run-scorer in the five-match Test series against England, which India drew 2-2 and also won India the Asia Cup trophy, beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the marquee final in Dubai.
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s spot in Grade A+ is currently under the scanner. They have been in that category for several years and even after the T20I retirement in 2024, they managed to retain their spot in the A+ category. However, the duo has since retired from Test cricket as well, and there are concerns about their future in ODIs.
Even though both Rohit and Kohli have been dominant in ODIs in recent times, the BCCI has indicated a change to secure their future but the veterans have given them no room as they are likely to continue till the ODI World Cup 2027. In such a situation, it now needs to be seen if the duo retain their spot in the same category or are demoted following Gill’s promotion.
On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah is set to be retained in the A+ category, as he is an integral part of the national team in all three formats and Ravindra Jadeja, who plays Tests and ODIs.
Notably, BCCI's upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on December 22 after India's ongoing tour of South Africa.
BCCI ANNUAL RETAINERSHIP FOR 2024-25
Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant.
Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer.
Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, 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 Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana.
