What is a BCCI Annual contract?

Recently the BCCI has announced its annual player retainership 2024-25 for Team India (Senior men). Let us understand about this BCCI annual contract for players and how does this work in detail.

All the Indian cricketers are contract-based and not permanent employees of the BCCI. They are not permanent employees with monthly salaries, pensions or long-term job security like a typical government or a corporate job. Instead, they are offered:

1. BCCI Annual contracts (Retainerships) -> based on performance and selection.
2. Match-based payments -> Only when they play.
3. Performance Reviews -> Every year

BCCI, while announcing the annual contract, will divide the players into grades - A+, A, B, and C. These retainerships are worth ₹7 cr, ₹5 cr, ₹3 cr, and ₹1 cr, respectively, even if they are not part of the playing XI. For example, if Jasprit Bumrah, currently an A+ retainee, gets injured and doesn’t play for 9 months, he still receives the 7 cr as retainerhip, but he doesn’t get match fees unless he plays. The idea is to support the top-tier players even through injury breaks or rest periods, ensuring they aren’t forced to overplay for income.

These grades are decided by selectors + BCCI administrators and can vary yearly depending on: Form, Fitness, Consistency, Impact in matches, etc. Let’s see how this works.

• A top player like Virat Kohli is in Grade A+ and earns ₹7 cr annually (retainership), but if he underperforms or takes a long break, BCCI can demote or remove him in the next cycle, like it dropped Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane in the 2023-24 contract.
• A young player like Vaibhav Suryavanshi may not have a contract yet, but if he performs well in T20I’s he could be added to Grade C next year.

The BCCI annual contract for retainership is structured based on a fiscal year that spans from October - September. That means the recent BCCI annual contract for retainership 2024-25 season covers the period from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025. Later it would again announce the contracts for 2025-26 which would commence on October 1, 2025 and the details for that period are typically announced around March or April 2026.

Players will also earn per-match fees regardless of the grade they are in. These are different for different formats of the game - T20I, ODI, and Test match. This is in addition to the retainership and is paid every time a player is part of the playing XI.

This is all about the BCCI annual contract for retainerships for the players. With graded contracts and match based earnings, it strikes a balance between recognition and meritocracy.