5 players from 2023-24 who have been omitted from BCCI's 2024-25 Central Contract list ft. Shardul Thakur

On Monday, April 21, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unveiled the Annual Player Contracts for the Indian Senior Men’s Cricket Team for the 2024-25 season, covering the period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025. A total of 34 players have been awarded central contracts, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja maintaining their positions in Grade A+.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been elevated from Grade B to Grade A. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have also returned to the contracts list after being left out last year.

Meanwhile, emerging talents Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, all of whom made their debuts last year, have earned their first-ever contracts. Here’s the full list:

Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Grade A: Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Shami, and Rishabh Pant.

Grade B: Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shreyas Iyer.

Grade C: 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, and Harshit Rana.

Meanwhile, several players who were part of the 2023-24 central contract have been omitted from the BCCI’s 2024-25 list. Here’s a list of those players:

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5 players from 2023-24 who have been omitted from BCCI's 2024-25 Central Contract list

#1 Ravichandran Ashwin

Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was included in the Grade A category of the BCCI’s 2023–24 central contracts. However, the 38-year-old is absent from the 2024–25 list, having officially retired from international cricket.

Ashwin announced his retirement in December 2024, following the third Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) in Brisbane. He bowed out as India’s second-highest wicket-taker across formats, finishing with 765 wickets in 287 matches, including 37 five-wicket hauls. Anil Kumble leads the chart with 953 wickets in 401 matches.

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#2 Shardul Thakur

Another notable omission from the BCCI’s 2024–25 central contract list is Shardul Thakur. The 33-year-old was part of Grade C in the 2023–24 contracts but hasn’t made the cut this time around. His last appearance for India came in December 2023 during a Test match against South Africa in Centurion.

Shardul is representing the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the ongoing IPL 2025, where he has claimed 12 wickets in eight matches.

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#3 Jitesh Sharma

Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma, who was part of the Grade C category in the 2023–24 central contracts, has been left out of the BCCI’s 2024–25 list. The 31-year-old made his T20I debut for India during the 2023 Asian Games and has since featured in nine matches. However, he hasn’t made a significant impact, managing just 100 runs in seven innings at an average of 14.28.

Jitesh is currently representing the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in IPL 2025, where he has scored 101 runs in six innings so far.

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#4 KS Bharat

Another wicketkeeper-batter missing from the 2024–25 central contract list is KS Bharat. The 31-year-old was previously placed in Grade C, but inconsistent performances cost him a place in the Indian Test squad, and ultimately, a spot in the latest contracts list.

Bharat made his Test debut for India against Australia in February 2023, with his most recent appearance coming against England in February 2024. During this span, he featured in seven matches, scoring only 221 runs in 12 innings at a modest average of 20.09.

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#5 Avesh Khan

Avesh Khan has also missed out on a place in BCCI's 2024–25 central contract list, failing to retain his Grade C spot. The 28-year-old has represented India in eight ODIs, taking nine wickets, and has featured in 25 T20Is, claiming 27 wickets. However, with the rise of promising pacers like Harshit Rana and Akash Deep, Avesh has been overlooked this time.

He is currently playing for the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in IPL 2025, where he has taken eight wickets in seven matches so far.