BCCI Delays Central Contract Announcement: Raises Questions Over Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s Future

Earlier reports suggested that the BCCI would announce its new central contracts in April, but according to the Times of India, the updated list might now be released only in October. The previous contracts expired in mid-2024 and the BCCI has yet to issue the new ones.

According to reports, apart from big names like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer is set to return to the BCCI central contracts. He has deserved it after putting in the work in domestic cricket and contributing to India’s Champions Trophy 2025 victory, where he was the team’s top scorer. On the other hand, it seems that Ishan Kishan may not get a contract this time.

The BCCI central contracts operate from October to September, but this period has been postponed occasionally during the last few years. The board seems to be working on future plans for some senior players like Rohit Sharma, which might be the reason for the current delay. The team plans to have a detailed discussion with the selectors to determine the future direction of Team India.

BCCI Faces Dilemma Over Senior Players Contract Status for 2024–25

The contract list will be finalized with the help of important inputs from coach Gautam Gambhir. Many feel that senior players like Rohit, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja still deserve topgrade contracts and should not be downgraded given how India performed in 2023–24, winning the T20 World Cup and doing well across formats.

“The Test series loss to New Zealand at home and the poor performance in Australia happened after October. The board is okay with making payments based on the previous contracts. If fresh contracts are announced in October, it will give a clearer picture of the future plans.” A BCCI source shared some insight on the delay.

 The report also mentioned that BCCI might reduce the size of Team India’s support staff and this could be a part of the discussions during the central contract talks. Meanwhile, after IPL 2025, India is set to tour England for a Test series, but it’s still unclear whether Rohit Sharma will play or who will captain the side.

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