New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last month removed the A+ category from its players’ sustainability system, citing a lack of candidates to qualify for the gradation. However, TOI understands that the board may be forced to review the award structure of the existing contract tiering to ensure that players with consistent performance do not lose the money they were getting till last year. Topping the list is India’s leading fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who has been regularly getting A+ grade contracts since its inception for the 2018-19 season. It was found that the board did not officially disclose the value of the contracts this season. Under the previous system, A+ players received 7 cr while A, B and C players received 5 cr, 3 cr and 1 cr respectively. The BCCI, while announcing this year’s advance, did not mention the amount for each category. It is understood that even the players have not yet been officially informed of the value of their contracts.
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Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag watches West Ham vs Man City in London The A+ grade was reserved for players who had a place in all three formats and had a world ranking in the top 10 in any format. With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli out of the two formats, along with Ravindra Jadeja calling it quits from T20Is, only Bumrah is left on the board. The flash point of the current contract system comes from here as Bumrah, despite maintaining control over all three formats, has been defaulted to Grade A this year. Currently, only Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are in Grade A. “The committee is trying to figure out how Bumrah can be compensated. Understandably, it would be unfair to reduce his fees from Rs 7 to Rs 5. There are some other players whose performances may seem to have gone down a notch.” a BCCI source told TOI. Another name in discussion is India’s T20I vice-captain Axar Patel, who has been an integral part of the T20I and ODI setup in the 2024-25 season. Axar has bagged the C-class contract, which was valued at Rs 1 cr till last year. India have had one of their most successful years in white-ball cricket in terms of contracts in the 2024-25 season. Test cricket has seen lows at home and in Australia, with the highest level draw in a five-Test series in England in between. TOI has accessed the official criteria that was proposed when the A+ grade was introduced in 2018-19. As stated in the document, for an A-grade contract, a player must meet two of the following four criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, among the top 15 in the world rankings, automatic selection in the test team with 40 or more caps. A Grade B contract requires a player to meet two of the following criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the squad, top 20 in the world rankings, automatic selection in the Test squad with 60 or more caps. Interestingly, Axar was the world’s number one all-rounder in T20Is in 2025 and also played a key role in India’s triumph, qualifying for two of the four Grade A or Grade B contracts. Even though the BCCI has changed the criteria in the last three years, at least a Grade B contract seemed viable. It will be interesting to see if the council revised the criteria for this year as well. Apart from Bumrah and Axar, there are other players like KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant who have been pushed to Grade B from Grade A. It is to be noted that Rahul has been a consistent performer in Tests and ODIs while Siraj and Pant have had exceptional Test tours of England. Pandya is also a core member of India’s ODI and T20I sides. The BCCI has historically considered releasing players due to injuries and has ensured that players are not penalized for missing cricket due to injuries.
