BCCI Central Contracts- Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli in danger of losing Grade A+

The BCCI, on Monday (April 21), announced the names of the centrally contracted players for the ongoing 2024-25 season. A total of 34 players have earned the central contracts for the ongoing season.

Out of those 34 players, seven have earned their maiden contract from the BCCI. The players to get their maiden contracts are Nitish Kumar Reddy, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana.

BCCI announced Central Contracts for 2024-25

Except for Chakravarthy, the other six players made their debut for Team India last year and have been rewarded for their impressive displays.

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On the other hand, Jitesh Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, and KS Bharat have been dropped from the contracted players' list along with Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket earlier this year.

The board also decided to reinstate the central contracts of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. Both players had lost their contracts last season for not prioritizing domestic cricket.

Last Grade A+ contracts for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja?

One of the biggest surprises in the new central contracts was the presence of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja's names in the Grade A+ category. The contract is usually given to those players who are regular in all three formats of the game.

With Rohit Sharma, Kohli, and Jadeja retiring from T20Is last year following India's victory at the T20 World Cup, it was expected that all of them would be demoted in the central contracts.

However, the veteran cricketers have surprisingly retained their spots in the top category of the contracts.

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England tour crucial for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli

Things could change next year, though, when the contracts are renewed. According to a report in India Today, the upcoming England tour could be crucial for both Rohit Sharma and Kohli's Test futures following their dismal performance in the last season.

Such was their performance against New Zealand and Australia last year that there were calls from several quarters to drop them from the Test team. However, they managed to turn things around for themselves by impressing with the bat in the Champions Trophy and helping India clinch the title after 12 years.

Both players will now look to impress in the England Tests. Another failure in an important series could very well cost them not only their place in the Test side but also the Grade A+ contracts.