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With the BCCI reportedly expected to announce their list of annual retainers, Abhishek Sharma and Harshit Rana among others are expected to be included.
Abhishek Sharma (L) and Harshit Rana (R) – AFP Image
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly going to announce their annual list of centrally contracted players for the 2025-2026 season.
According to a report by Cricbuzz, the Indian cricket board are expected to make the announcement in the coming few days, with the decision already being taken recently.
The BCCI’s mandate dictates that athletes who have played at least 3 Tests, 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is will be expected to be included in the Grade C list on a pro-rata basis.
The contracts are split into four grades, where the A-Plus category receives Rs 7 crore annually, while the A category gets Rs 5 crore. Those in Grade B and C categories earn Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore, respectively.
In the report, the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Reddy and Harshit Rana are set to be included for the first time in their respective careers. In addition, the likes of Varun Chakaravarthy, who has delivered in his recent run of T20I games and played a key role in India’s Champions Trophy campaign in 2025, are also expected to be included.
Abhishek is currently India’s go-to opening batter in the T20I format, where he partners Sanju Samson. Nitish has had an impressive display in Tests after making his debut in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier. Harshit Rana has been a regular feature in the Indian bowling attack across all formats in recent times.
Senior stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are set to be retained in the A+ category.
Shreyas Iyer, who was omitted from the annual retainers last year, is also expected to make a comeback after helping India’s title-winning campaign in the Champions Trophy, finishing as the leading run-scorer in the tournament.
It remains to be seen whether Mohammed Siraj will see himself being demoted, as he has not been in selection talks since being dropped from the side after their loss in the Australian tour.
The report claims that there won’t be too many changes to the grading, barring 2-3 players. It remains to be seen who those players are going to be.
