Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan back as BCCI Announces Central Contracts List for 2024-25 Season

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced its list for the annual central contracts for the 2024-25 season. While there were not many surprises, both Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan are back in the list after missing out in the previous season.

Both Iyer and Kishan were dropped from the list for the 2023-24 season after not adhering to BCCI's rules on the availability for domestic cricket. Both the players were found to be prioritising IPL cricket over domestic cricket which didn't go down well with the selectors.

Apart from Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, there were no changes in Grade A+, which includes four top players of Indian cricket. Ravichandran Ashwin was not included in the list as he has already retired.

Senior Players Retained in Grade A+

The A+ Category, which is also the topmost grade in the BCCI Central Contract List, includes Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja. Rohit, Kohli, and Jadeja have already retired from the T20Is but are still active in the other two formats. However, their form in Test cricket hasn't been great recently, and there is immense pressure on them regarding their future.

Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has received a promotion from Grade B to A despite not playing much white-ball cricket. However, Pant has been a key player for India's Test team and is one of their best performers in the longest format. He was in Grade A previously, but dropped down after not having played cricket for more than a year.

Grade C of the BCCI Central Contract List includes mostly the T20 players like Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, and Harshit Rana. KS Bharat, Avesh Khan, Shardul Thakur, and Jitesh Sharma, who were earlier in this list, have been dropped.

Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Back in BCCI Central Contract List

Iyer has had a wonderful last few months in international cricket. He played a key role in India's Champions Trophy campaign and helped the team lift the trophy. He emerged as the team's highest run-getter of the tournament with 243 runs in five matches at an average of 48.60. His inclusion in the list was a mere formality. Iyer has been added in Grade B.

Meanwhile, Kishan is yet to make a comeback in international cricket. However, he has shown his commitment by being available for domestic cricket in the past year or so. While Iyer is the captain of Punjab Kings in IPL 2025, Kishan is representing Sunrisers Hyderabad. Kishan is in Grade C of this contract.

List of BCCI Central Contract List for 2024-25