Mustafizur Rahman retains Grade B central contract:BCB excludes A+ category; 28 cricketers included

After the withdraw from the ongoing T20 World Cup, Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced their central contract list for the 2026 season. Mustafizur Rahman retains Grade B in the contract, while Captain Ltton Das receives Grade A along with veteran pacer Taskin Ahmed. Mushfiqur Rahim handed a demotion to Grade B followed by his ODI retirement. However, with the latest developments, BCB has excluded the Grade A+ category from the central contract list this season. Earlier, in the 2025 season, askin Ahmed was the only player listed in the A+ category. The number of players on BCB contracts has increased from 22 in 2025 to 28 in the latest list, according to the ICC website. Mustafizur Rahman retains Grade B contract Bangladesh premium pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, has retained Grade B contract after being snubbed from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 began, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) signed him for ₹9.20 crore in the IPL mini-auction. Due to the heavy protest after the Hindus being killed in Bangladesh, Indian netizens criticised Mustafizur’s participation in the IPL. Followed by his snub, BCB withdraw from the T20 World Cup citing security concerns in India. Scotland replaced Bangladesh in Group C. While T20 WC was ongoing in India and Sri Lanka, BCB introduced ‘Odommo Bangladesh T20 Cup’ to increase the craze of domestic cricket in Bangladesh. BCB excludes A+ category from central contract Bangladesh Cricket Board has excluded the A+ cayegory from the central contract no cricketers were playing across all three formats regularly, which was a prerequisite for that top bracket. The decision, affecting the 2026, aimed to reflect the current, rather than past, performance and consistent multi-format participation of players. Earlier, Bangladesh Pacer Taskin Ahmed, the sole A+ category player last year, has been downgraded to Grade A. An Achilles injury in February disrupted his season, keeping him out of all Test matches in 2025. However, he remained active in white-ball cricket for Bangladesh, taking eight wickets in six ODIs and 24 wickets in 13 T20Is. Mushfiqur Rahim demoted to Grade B Veteran Bangladeshi cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim has moved down to Grade B following his retirement from ODIs in March last year. Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Rishad Hossain, and Shak Mahedi Hasan earned them promotions to Grade B. Tanzid Hasan was Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in T20Is in 2025 with 775 runs in 27 matches, while Rishad Hossain topped the wicket charts in both ODIs and T20Is last season. In 25 T20Is, Rishad claimed 33 wickets in 2025, while claiming 17 wickets in seven ODIs. BCB’s 28-member Central contract list for 2026 season Grade A: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed
Grade B: Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Tawhid Hridoy, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Rishad Hossian, Shak Mahedi Hasan Grade C: Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali Anik, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed
Grade D: Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Shamim Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan.