‘Axar Patel ko aur kya karna hoga to get what he deserves?’: Aakash Chopra slams BCCI for giving allrounder Grade C contract in latest list

Meanwhile, veteran former India captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were handed Grade B contracts for 2025/26. While the pair have been included in the topmost A+ bracket for most of their illustrious careers, both Rohit and Kohli are now active only in one format after they retired from T20Is in 2024 and Tests last year.

Axar Patel ko aur kya karna hoga to get what he deserves?
Three format player. Vice-captain in one format.
Grade-C??
Also, if Jadeja and Gill are in Grade-A, why aren’t Hardik, Rahul and Kuldeep?? Even Arshdeep shouldn’t be in Grade-C.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 9, 2026

The A+ contract bracket has been scrapped altogether and the only male players in the top-most Grade A are Test captain Shubman Gill, ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Meanwhile, four women players have been awarded Grade A contracts: captain Harmanpreet Kaur, batters Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues and all-rounder Deepti Sharma.

Among those who have been handed Grade B contracts in the men’s team includes India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, who is currently leading the side in the 2026 T20 World Cup. Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar have all been handed Grade B contracts as well. Meanwhile, only four women players have been included in Grade B – Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Sneh Rana.

A notable exclusion from the list is veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who had been included in Grade B last year. While he has been as active as ever in domestic cricket, Shami hasn’t played for India since the 2025 Champions Trophy final in March.