Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma set to be demoted as BCCI to announce central contracts on THIS date - Reports

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma only play one format for India, having retired from T20Is in 2024 and Tests in 2025.

The 2025–26 central contracts for the Indian Cricket Team (Men’s) are anticipated to be announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) around the New Year. The board is anticipated to make a number of moves, beginning with the demotion of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Veteran batting combo Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli previously received an A+ contract because they were playing in all game types. They are likely to be downgraded from A+ since they have retired from Test cricket. However, now that they have retired from Tests and T20Is, there is a likelihood that they would be downgraded, while Shubman Gill is expected to be promoted.

The board has chosen to make an early decision even though the 2025–2026 domestic season is still ongoing. The contracts are typically made public in February. Last season, they were postponed until April; this time, the BCCI has advanced them.

Mohammed Shami axed; Ishan Kishan to be included; Shubman Gill to be promoted

As per a report in Sports Tak, Mohammed Shami and Mukesh Kumar, two Bengal fast bowlers, may not be included in the BCCI 2025–26 central contracts. Mukesh last played for Team India in July 2024, and Shami hasn’t played since March.

Shubman Gill, India’s ODI and Test captain, would probably go from Grade A to the prestigious Grade A+ level. Apart from him, spin-allrounder Ravindra Jadeja and lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah are expected to feature in the A+ bracket because of their central roles in all formats of the game.

Ishan Kishan, an Indian wicketkeeper batter, who was absent from the BCCI’s central contract list for 2025, is expected to be included in the revised list since the southpaw has been included in India’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.

Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, and Harshit Rana are all likely to be promoted, given that they have been part of the Indian squad for the past year or so. They have become 2-format or 3-format players since the last contracts came out. Most of them aren’t fringe players anymore.

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