Jasprit Bumrah dropped from A+, Rs 2 crore gap left, BCCI may rethink pay structure | cricket news
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last month removed the A+ category from its players’ retainership system, saying there were not enough candidates to qualify for the gradation. However, TOI understands that the board may be forced to re-look at the evaluation structure of the existing gradation of contracts to ensure that players who have consistently performed well do not lose out on the money they received last year. India’s leading fast bowlers are at the top of this list. Jasprit BumrahWho have consistently received Grade A+ contracts since the start of the 2018–19 season. It is learned that the board has not officially informed about the value of the contracts for this season. As per the previous system, Grade A+ players received Rs 7 crore, while Grade A, B and C players received Rs 5 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively. BCCI did not mention the amount for each category while announcing this year’s retainership. It is learned that the players have also not yet been officially informed about the value of their contracts.
Grade A+ was reserved for players who had made it to all three formats and achieved a world ranking in the top 10 in any one format. since Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Also retired from two formats Ravindra Jadeja After his retirement from T20, only Bumrah is left on the board. The clash with the current contract system starts here as despite holding all three formats, Bumrah was kept in Grade A by default this year. Currently, Grade A includes only Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. The board is trying to figure out how Bumrah can be compensated. It is understandable that it would be unfair to reduce his fee from Rs 7 crore to Rs 5 crore. There are some other players who have gone down a grade despite performing well. There could be revisions in the valuation of contracts,” a BCCI source told TOI. The other name that is being debated is that of India’s T20I vice-captain Axar Patel, who has been an integral part of the T20I and ODI set-up in the 2024-25 season. Akshar has been given a Grade C contract, which was worth Rs 1 crore till last year. India are set to taste one of their most successful years in white-ball cricket in the 2024-25 season, with contracts awarded for the 2024-25 season. Test cricket has seen a decline at home and in Australia, with a five-Test series in England tied in between. TOI has acquired the official norms that were prepared when Grade A+ was introduced in 2018-19. According to the document, for a Grade A contract, a player must fulfill any two of the following four criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, top 15 in the world ranking, automatic selection in the Test team with 40 or more matches. A Grade B contract requires the player to fulfill any two of the following criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, top 20 in the world rankings, automatic selection in the Test team with 60 or more matches. Interestingly, Axar was the world No. 11 all-rounder in T20Is in 2025 and also played a key role in India’s win, which makes him two of the four to qualify for a Grade A or Grade B contract. Even though the BCCI has changed the criteria over the last three years, a minimum Grade B contract seemed viable. It will be interesting to see if the board has revised the criteria for this year also. Apart from Bumrah and Akshar, there are other players like KL RahulMohammad Siraj, hardik pandya And Rishabh Pant has been pushed from Grade A to Grade B. It should be noted that Rahul has been performing consistently in Tests and ODIs, while Siraj and Pant had exceptional Test tours of England. Pandya has also been a key member of India’s ODI and T20 teams. The BCCI has historically considered player injuries and has ensured that players are not penalized for leaving cricket due to injuries.

