In the previous cycle of BCCI Central contracts, the board had introduced special 'fast bowling contracts' to nurture the upcoming talents such as Umran Malik, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal, Vidwath Kaverappa, and Akash Deep. However, on Monday when the new list came out for 2024-25, these contracts were absent. The strong resemblance indicates BCCI has in fact scrapped the fast bowling contracts altogether. Out of the ones previously listed, Akash Deep is the only one who managed to earn promotion to Grade C from B, having been part of the India Test squad during the Australia tour. The rest didn't make it to the new central contract list. Although BCCI didn't make any formal announcement regarding scrap of the contracts, promotion of Akash Deep seems to confirm it. The ascension to Grade C for several new faces included Nitish Kumar Reddy, a millennarian from Australia; Dhruv Jurel; Sarfaraz Khan; Ishan Kishan; and Varun Chakravarthy. However, the biggest talking point was that Rishabh Pant got a Grade A contract while Axar Patel stayed in Grade B. This has also raised a few eyebrows due to the fact that Ishan has not played for India since 2023 and hasn't really set the domestic circuit on fire or the IPL for that matter this season. 🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🚨BCCI announces annual player retainership 2024-25 - Team India (Senior Men)#TeamIndiaDetails 🔽https://t.co/lMjl2Ici3P pic.twitter.com/CsJHaLSeho — BCCI (@BCCI) April 21, 2025 Also Read | ‘It’s a good sign for us’: Dhoni sees bright future in 17YO Ayush Mhatre Full List of BCCI Central Contracts 2024-25: Grade Players A+ Virat Kohli Ravindra Jadeja Rohit Sharma Jasprit Bumrah Grade A Rishabh Pant Mohammed Shami Mohammed Siraj KL Rahul Shubman Gill Hardik Pandya Grade B Suryakumar Yadav Kuldeep Yadav Axar Patel Shreyas Iyer Yashasvi Jaiswal Grade C Rinku Singh Tilak Varma 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 Harshit Rana