The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) came forward and announced its annual central contracts for the 2025-26 season. In what may come as a surprise to many, the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both of whom had the highest pay in the contracts, have now been demoted. Moving down from Grade A, both Kohli and Rohit have been moved into Grade B. Furthermore, India's Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill has been moved up from Grade B to Grade A.

It is worth noting that both Kohli and Rohit have retired from Test and T20I cricket and only represent India in ODIs, which could be a major reason why they have been demoted to Grade B. In the previous season’s contracts, both Rohit and Kohli were in the A+ grade. In the 2025-26 season, the BCCI has removed the A+ grade, and the highest grade now is A.

Furthermore, another notable change has been the promotion of star batter Shubman Gill. Named as the Men in Blue’s new Test and ODI skipper, Gill has expectedly moved into the highest grade. It is worth noting that Grade A players will earn Rs 5 crore, Grade B players will earn Rs 3 crore, and Grade C players will earn Rs 1 crore. Central contracts for the women’s team was also announced
Furthermore, the annual central contract for the Indian women’s team was also announced at the same time. It is worth noting that, unlike the men’s side, the women’s side has four players in Grade A, namely Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma.

Undoubtedly, the four biggest names in Indian women’s cricket, the stars, will have the highest yearly payout as compared to the rest of their teammates.