The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed the central contracts of the Indian cricket team for the 2024-25 season on Monday (April 21) after a long wait and suspense over whether the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja will retain the top bracket following their retirement from T20Is.

All of Kohli, Rohit, and Jadeja retained their A+ contract alongside Jasprit Bumrah. This time around a total of 34 players got a central contract from the Indian cricket governing body, which is an increase from last year when a total of 30 players were handed a retainer.

The big news was the return of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, while seven players, who did not have a contract last year have been awarded one this time around.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who was part of Grade A last year, did not get a contract this time around following his international retirement. Ashwin is one of five players, who were given a contract last time around but does not have this time.

Last time, the Indian cricket governing body announced a special fast bowling contract for Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Vidwath Kaverappa, but there is no announcement on the same this time or confirmation if it has been continued or discarded.

Rishabh Pant is the only player whose contract category has been changed from last year as he earned a promotion from B to A. Pant was part of the A category in 2022-23 but was demoted to B after his long hiatus from the sport, post a near-fatal car accident.

In - Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Harshit Rana

Out - Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jitesh Sharma, KS Bharat, Avesh Khan

Promotion Demotion - Rishabh Pant (Grade B to Grade A)

Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from IPL 2025,IPL Orange Cap, IPL Purple Cap, Most Sixes in IPL, Cricket, Sports and around the world.