The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will completely change its central contracts system for the 2025-26 season, including the elimination of the A+ category. By the A+ category elimination they want to make player payments more transparent and aligned with the actual players’ involvement across the formats.
Currently, the BCCI has divided its players into four levels where the first one, A+, gets the highest annual salary of Rs 7 crore. Following come Categories A (Rs 5 crore), B (Rs 3 crore) and C (Rs 1 crore). The new plan will be focused on three levels, A, B, and C, which means the top-level A+ that was created in 2018 is going to be completely wiped out.
In the previous contract cycle, there were only four players – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja – who were a part of the A+ category. Nevertheless, the current team lineup has been a major factor that influenced the decision. Out of the four players, Jasprit is the only one who is still considered for all the formats of cricket. Kohli and Rohit play only ODIs now while Jadeja is in the Indian squad for Tests and ODIs after retiring from T20Is.
Bumrah, on the other hand, will not suffer any monetary loss even though there is going to be a change in the structure. A BCCI official talking to PTI said, “This is being done to simplify the contract structure. There are not many players who are part of all formats. Someone like Bumrah, who remains one of the few all-format players, will continue to be placed in the highest category and there would be no pay cut.” Reports indicate that the players in Category A could now get Rs 7 crore as an annual salary which will basically combine with the earlier A+ pay scale.
India’s current Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill is also going to be put in Category A which points to his leadership and significance across the formats. On the other hand, veteran players like Rohit and Virat have their hands in only the limited formats and thus it is possible that they will be shifted down to Category B.
Additionally, the changes may also affect Kabaddi kingpins like Kuldeep, Axar, and Washington. Besides being active in all formats, Kuldeep and Axar were being paid Category B and Sundar was in Category C, meaning possible reshuffling in the middle layers subject to new pay slabs.
The new contracts will receive formal approval in the upcoming Apex Council meeting. Interestingly, the A+ category was first brought into existence when the BCCI was managed by the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators, thus its removal is a symbolic return to a scaled-down contract model.