Nagpur: The shifting sands in the men’s playing pool of Indian cricket has sparked an internal debate in the BCCI about whether the A+ category, reserved for all-format players, has become excess to requirements.
It is learnt that this is one of the matters that has been on the discussion board with the national selectors, who have now recommended that A+ category be done away with. The issue will be debated in the board’s next Apex Council meeting before the fresh national contracts are finalised.
The current wave of transition in Indian cricket has seen selections becoming increasingly format-focussed. Given the amount of cricket that is being played these days, it is the right call too. For instance, India’s current T20I side which is set to play the next World Cup is largely made up of specialists suited to the fast-paced format. In ODIs and Tests too, there is now a clean differentiation.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah were last named in the A+ category when 2024-25 contracts were awarded. Their period of appraisal was October 2023-September 2024.
When the new contracts (2025-26) are announced, their performance over the course of October 2024-September 2025 will be assessed. During this phase, Virat and Rohit quit Test cricket after poor showings in the home Tests against New Zealand and the away tour of Australia. The two batting stars as well as Jadeja had already retired from T20I cricket after the 2024 T20 World Cup.
That leaves Jasprit Bumrah as the only all-format performer of prominence. It could be argued that Bumrah’s excellence should be rewarded with the highest pay cheque, but the counter argument to that is the pace ace rarely plays matches in a cluster, with his bowling workload requiring constant monitoring. Bumrah featured in only three of the five Test matches in England. Although India regularly plays five-Test rubbers against Australia and England, it is unlikely that the pace ace’s body can take that sort of a workload anymore.
With the A+ category clearly becoming surplus to requirements, there is a strong opinion building to go back to an uniform A, B and C contact category. If so, Bumrah is sure to be named in the highest category, but there may be others who would be at par.
Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill is definitely expected to make the cut to the top category. Gill was in the mix to be named vice-captain of the T20 World Cup, before missing the cut.
The A+ category worth ₹ 7 crore was introduced in 2017 by the BCCI with an idea to incentivise all-format cricketers. Those in Grade A, B and C earn ₹ 5, 3 and 1 crore respectively. Even if the topmost category is done away with, it will be debated if there should be a pay correction. “If you don’t award those in the top contract layer adequately, the pay gap between international cricket and IPL will swell up. That will have to be checked,” a BCCI official said.
Rohit and Virat, who now play only the ODI format will move down a category and may have to settle for Grade B as per the revised formula. Then there is KL Rahul, who opens in Test cricket, and an established ODI player. Rishabh Pant is the Test vice-captain and in the mix for ODI consideration. The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar are seen as torchbearers of the next generation of Indian cricket.
There is one point of view within the BCCI to establish a set criteria by which players are categorised based on the number of matches they play in each format, during the appraisal year. That would remove the subjectivity away from gradation, but could simplify matters with players picking and choosing formats, and fast bowlers resting to manage workload.
In the existing four-tier gradation system itself, a set criteria is set for the lowermost Grade C, where those who play a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period automatically make it on a pro-rata basis.
