Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have announced their retirements from Test cricket. the two legendary batsmen announced their retirement on May 12 and May 7 respectively. However, at present Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are included in the Grade A+ category of BCCI, but now after their retirement there is a lot of speculation about whether both the players will be able to retain their Grade A+ status in the BCCI’s central contract.
Let us tell you that the duration of this central contract is from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. Additionally, Grade A+ contracts are only awarded to athletes who consistently perform well in all three formats. At the same time, BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia has clarified the situation regarding the status of Kohli and Rohit.
According to India Today, Sakia said,
“𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 (𝑽𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒉𝒊𝒕) 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂, 𝒔𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑨+ 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚? 𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆.”
Both may be demoted in the next cycle
In the current period, apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are the two players who are included in the A+ grade. Since both have retired from T20 International and Test, they will now be seen playing only in the ODI format. In such a situation, both the players can be demoted in the next period.
At the same time, the Indian team has to tour England in June, where it has to play a five-match Test series. Now it remains to be seen how Team India performs without Kohli and Rohit. Shubman Gill is likely to become the captain in the longest format of the game. Jasprit Bumrah is also in the race. The BCCI may appoint a Test captain soon.
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