The Board of Control for Cricket in India is set to reveal its yearly retainership in April. There are some big changes expected in the new contracts, including Shreyas Iyer’s return. He was left off the list last year because of some issues, but after a fantastic domestic and international season, he’s likely to make a comeback. Iyer played a big role in India’s success at the Champions Trophy 2025, scoring key runs to help India clinch back-to-back ICC titles.
So, what are these BCCI annual retainerships and how do they work? The BCCI central contracts system is designed to categorize and reward senior male cricketers based on how they perform and what they bring to Indian cricket. Players fall into four groups: A+, A, B, and C. Last year, 30 players received central contracts from the board.
When a player is on a BCCI contract, the board takes good care of them. For instance, players can recover for free at the National Cricket Academy, and they get travel reimbursements along with access to top-notch training at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
How much do these centrally contracted players earn? Here’s a breakdown:
- A+: ₹7 crore
- A: ₹5 crore
- B: ₹3 crore
- C: ₹1 crore
Match fees for Team India are:
- Test: ₹15 lakh
- ODI: ₹6 lakh
- T20I: ₹3 lakh
To qualify for a central contract, players need to have played either 3 Test matches, 8 ODIs, or 10 T20Is. Meeting just one of those criteria makes them eligible.
Here’s a look at the Indian players with BCCI contracts for 2023-24:
- Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja.
- Grade A: R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya.
- Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal.
- Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, and Dhruv Jurel.