Thursday, 24 April 2025
Thursday, 24 April 2025
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has unveiled the annual player contracts for Team India (Senior Men) for the 2024–25 season. While Rishabh Pant has been elevated to Grade A and Shreyas Iyer makes a return in Grade B, the absence of several established names from the list has raised eyebrows.
Shreyas Iyer, who was the second-highest run-scorer in the Champions Trophy with 243 runs from five innings at an average of 48.60, including two half-centuries, finds himself back in the Grade B category.
New contracts have been handed out to Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, and Harshit Rana, signalling the BCCI’s emphasis on emerging talent.
But the latest contract list has also seen the exclusion of five names from the 2023-24 retainership and four others who held fast bowling contracts.
Shardul Thakur misses out despite IPL resurgence
Seam-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who has been out of India's plans across all formats since December 2023, is among those who didn’t make the cut.
A series of injuries followed by surgery hampered his availability during the first half of the Ranji Trophy season.
Although Thakur returned in the latter stages of domestic cricket, the selectors opted not to renew his contract for the 2024-25 cycle.
He went unsold at the auction and was preparing to turn out for Essex in the County Championship. But Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) roped him in as an injury replacement.
In IPL 2025, Thakur has been in good form, claiming 12 wickets in 8 games and sitting at number five in the list of leading wicket-takers this season.
Ashwin's exit inevitable after Test retirement
Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket in December 2024 following the third Test against Australia at the Gabba, has not been handed a contract.
His decision to step away from the game marked the end of a career, and his omission from the list is consistent with the BCCI’s approach toward players no longer in national contention.
Ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auctions, Ashwin was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 9.75 crore, reuniting with Ravindra Jadeja at Chepauk.
In seven games this season, he has taken five wickets, conceding runs at nearly ten an over.
Avesh Khan left out despite IPL presence
Fast bowler Avesh Khan, who was part of India’s white-ball squads till November 2024, is out of the contract structure.
In the ongoing IPL, Avesh has taken 8 wickets from 7 matches, though his economy rate remains on the higher side, hovering around 10 runs per over.
Jitesh Sharma and K.S. Bharat also dropped
Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who has not represented India since January 2024 and was omitted from the T20 World Cup squad, is also missing from the list.
In the current IPL season, he has scored 101 runs from six innings with a highest score of 40* and an impressive strike rate of 140.27.
K.S. Bharat, once in contention for the Test wicketkeeping role, has been dropped from the contracts list.
But with Rishabh Pant making a successful return and Dhruv Jurel stepping up as a competent backup, Bharat’s exclusion was perhaps anticipated.
He remained unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction.
The BCCI has also discontinued fast bowling contracts for Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal, and Vidwath Kaverappa.
This step appears to be part of the board’s strategy to streamline its pool of pace bowlers for the national setup.
With the new list reflecting both transitions and future projections, the BCCI’s 2024-25 contracts mark a notable shift in priorities—backing current form and potential over past laurels.
