<p>The Board of Control for Cricket in India <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bcci">(BCCI) </a>has downgraded <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/rohit-sharma">Rohit Sharma </a>and <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/virat-kohli">Virat Kohli </a>to Grade B in the new Central Contracts announced on Monday (February 9), while also abolishing the prevailing A+ category carrying a retainership fee of Rs 7 crore.</p><p>The star batting duo currently play only the One-day Internationals.</p>.<p>The BCCI awarded central contract to 30 men and 21 women cricketers classified in group A, B and C.</p><p>It is presumed that A+ was a gradation that was introduced by the erstwhile Committee of Administrators at the behest of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. </p><p>It was meant for excellence across three formats and all these years, only four people qualified -- Kohli, Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah -- in that category.</p><p>But, with three of the four retiring from one or two formats, the BCCI did not want just Bumrah to be kept in A+ as the national selection committee is still not convinced that Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill is an all-format certainty after being dropped from the ongoing <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/t20-world-cup">ICC T20 World Cup 2026 </a>squad. </p><p>With A+ being done away, in the earlier seasons, group A was valued at Rs 5 crore, group B at Rs 3 crore annually, and group C at Rs 1 crore.</p><p>With Rohit and Kohli retiring from Tests and T20Is and playing only ODIs, as BCCI per criteria, they could not have been retained in the top-most category.</p><p>Among the top men's players retained in Grade A include Gill, Bumrah, and Jadeja while the women' top players include Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma.|</p><p>(With BCCI Media inputs)</p>
<p>The Board of Control for Cricket in India <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/bcci">(BCCI) </a>has downgraded <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/rohit-sharma">Rohit Sharma </a>and <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/virat-kohli">Virat Kohli </a>to Grade B in the new Central Contracts announced on Monday (February 9), while also abolishing the prevailing A+ category carrying a retainership fee of Rs 7 crore.</p><p>The star batting duo currently play only the One-day Internationals.</p>.<p>The BCCI awarded central contract to 30 men and 21 women cricketers classified in group A, B and C.</p><p>It is presumed that A+ was a gradation that was introduced by the erstwhile Committee of Administrators at the behest of former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. </p><p>It was meant for excellence across three formats and all these years, only four people qualified -- Kohli, Rohit, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah -- in that category.</p><p>But, with three of the four retiring from one or two formats, the BCCI did not want just Bumrah to be kept in A+ as the national selection committee is still not convinced that Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill is an all-format certainty after being dropped from the ongoing <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/t20-world-cup">ICC T20 World Cup 2026 </a>squad. </p><p>With A+ being done away, in the earlier seasons, group A was valued at Rs 5 crore, group B at Rs 3 crore annually, and group C at Rs 1 crore.</p><p>With Rohit and Kohli retiring from Tests and T20Is and playing only ODIs, as BCCI per criteria, they could not have been retained in the top-most category.</p><p>Among the top men's players retained in Grade A include Gill, Bumrah, and Jadeja while the women' top players include Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma.|</p><p>(With BCCI Media inputs)</p>