Jasprit Bumrah to receive ₹2 crore ‘compensation’:BCCI planning to reintroduce A+ category for central contracts – report

About 1.5 months have passed since the Board of Control for Cricket in India released the new contracts list, and the board is compelled to make changes to the gradation system and valuation. The highest performing player that the governing body is most concerned about is Jasprit Bumrah. It has been learned that BCCI is set to revisit the valuation in new grading system to offer a fair sum to cricket players who have been performing consistently, as per The Times of India. It’s worth noting that the board scrapped the A+ category from central contracts after concluding that there were not enough players to qualify for the most premium section. BCCI doesn’t want performing players to lose money After the white-ball dominance that India displayed throughout 2025-26, with standout contributions from Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup 2026, the BCCI has realised that consistent performers must not be stripped of the deserved pay and lose money. A BCCI official stated in the same report, “The board is trying to figure out how Bumrah can be compensated. Understandably, it will be unfair to slash his fees from ₹7 cr to ₹5 cr. There are some other players also who seem to have moved down a grade despite being performers. There could be a revision in the valuation of the contracts.” It has come to light, as per the same report, that the board hasn’t even officially communicated the value of the contracts this season. So players don’t know what amount they are getting for their respective categories. Why does Bumrah stay priority for board in contract value scrutiny? Apparently, Grade A+ was reserved for players who played all three formats and had a world ranking in the top 10 in any one format. Since Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired from two formats, along with Ravindra Jadeja retiring from T20Is, the board was left with just Bumrah. As per the previous system, Grade A+ players got ₹7 cr, while Grade A, B and C players received ₹5 cr, ₹3 cr and ₹1 cr, respectively. BCCI, By default, Bumrah was put in Grade A this year by default. At present, only Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja feature in Grade A. Jasprit Bumrah is not the only in contract gradation debate The other name that is debated is India’s T20I vice-captain Axar Patel, who has been an integral part of the T20I and ODI set-up in the 2024-25 season. Axar has been given a Grade C contract, which was valued at ₹1 cr till last year. India have tasted one of their most successful years in white-ball cricket in the 2024-25 season, for which the contracts have been awarded. Test cricket has seen lows at home and in Australia, with the high of levelling the five-Test series in England in between. As per the official criteria for when Grade A+ was introduced in 2018-19, a player must qualify for the A+ category by meeting two of the following criteria: Play in all formats, get automatic selection and must be among top 10 in world rankings in any format Meanwhile, for a Grade A contract, a player must fulfil any two of the following four criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, among the top 15 in world rankings, or automatic selection in the Test team with 40 or more matches. A Grade B contract demands a player fulfil any two of the following criteria: any two formats, automatic selection in the team, among the top 20 in world rankings, or automatic selection in the Test team with 60 or more matches. Interestingly, Axar was world’s No. 11 all-rounder in T20Is in 2025 and had also played a critical role in India’s triumph, which makes it two out of four for qualifying for Grade A or Grade B contracts. Even if the BCCI altered the criteria in the last three years, a minimum of a Grade B contract seemed manageable. It will be interesting to see if the board has revised the criteria for this year as well. Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, and Pant also demoted despite performance In addition to Bumrah and Axar, there are other players like KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant who have been pushed to Grade B from Grade A. As per the performance, KL Rahul is a consistent performer in Tests and ODIs, supporting the opening and middle order, respectively. Meanwhile, Siraj and Pant had an exceptional Test tour of England. Pandya too has been a core member of India’s ODI and T20I sides. So, it wouldn’t be even surprising if BCCI makes valuation amendments to the contracts of these players as well.