In a significant shake-up during IPL 2025, the BCCI has released its central contract list for Team India for the 2024–25 season (effective from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025). While 34 players made the cut this time — including 9 new faces — the spotlight is now on 9 players who were axed from the list. These players, who were part of the 2023–24 contract cycle, will now receive no annual retainer from the BCCI.
❌ These 9 Players Have Been Dropped:
- R. Ashwin – Retired from international cricket
- Shardul Thakur – Out of national contention for some time
- KS Bharat – Inconsistent performances, no recent national call-ups
- Avesh Khan – Hasn't featured for India lately
- Jitesh Sharma – Failed to impress after earning a contract last year
- Vijaykumar Vyshak – Was on a fast-bowling contract, not retained
- Umran Malik – Pace potential untapped; faded from the radar
- Yash Dayal – Included last time under fast-bowling bracket, now dropped
- Vidwath Kaverappa – Another fast-bowling hopeful who missed out
The decision signals that these players are currently not in BCCI’s immediate plans for Team India.
🔎 Central Contract Breakdown for 2024–25
Grade A+ (₹7 crore):
- Rohit Sharma
- Virat Kohli
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Ravindra Jadeja
Grade A (₹5 crore):
- Mohammed Siraj
- KL Rahul
- Shubman Gill
- Hardik Pandya
- Mohammed Shami
- Rishabh Pant
Grade B (₹3 crore):
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Axar Patel
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shreyas Iyer
Grade C (₹1 crore):
- Rinku Singh
- Tilak Verma
- Ruturaj Gaikwad
- Shivam Dube
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Washington Sundar
- Mukesh Kumar
- Sanju Samson
- Arshdeep Singh
- Prasidh Krishna
- Rajat Patidar
- Dhruv Jurel
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Ishan Kishan
- Abhishek Sharma
- Akash Deep
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Harshit Rana
🔁 Changing of the Guard
While veterans like Ashwin have gracefully stepped away, others like Jitesh, Umran, and Shardul will now need to prove their worth in domestic cricket and IPL to force a comeback. Meanwhile, new faces are being groomed as part of India's future core.
