Despite announcing their retirement from both T20Is and Test cricket, Indian cricket stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will continue to hold their Grade A+ central contracts, confirmed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Devajit Saikia on Wednesday.
In the annual player retainership list for the 2024-25 season, released in April, the BCCI named Kohli and Rohit in the elite Grade A+ category alongside pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
“Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma`s grade A+ contract will continue despite their retirement from the T20Is and Tests. They are still part of the Indian cricket team, and they will get all the facilities of Grade A+,” Saikia clarified, while speaking to ANI.
Kohli`s decision to retire from Test cricket came as a surprise to many, especially with India`s five-match series in England just around the corner. The tour marks the beginning of India`s journey in the 2025-27 cycle of the World Test Championship.
Over a stellar 14-year Test career, Kohli featured in 123 matches, scoring 9,230 runs at an impressive average of 46.85. His tally includes 30 centuries and 31 fifties across 210 innings, with a career-best score of 254 not out. He retires as India`s fourth-highest run-scorer in the format, trailing only legends Sachin Tendulkar (15,921), Rahul Dravid (13,265), and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122).
Earlier, on May 7, Rohit had also stepped away from Test cricket, drawing the curtain on an 11-year journey that spanned 67 matches. He accumulated 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, which included 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries. His highest Test score of 212 came during the 2019 home series against South Africa. Rohit ends his red-ball career as India’s 16th-highest run-getter.
Both veterans had earlier announced their retirement from T20 internationals following the conclusion of the .
Kohli’s record in the T20 World Cup is unparalleled, he has amassed 1,292 runs in 35 matches at a staggering average of 58.72 and a strike rate of 128.81, including 15 half-centuries and a highest score of 89*. He holds the distinction of being the tournament’s all-time leading run-scorer.
In his broader T20I career, Kohli has played 125 matches, scoring 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04. He finishes with one century and 38 fifties, with a top score of 122*, placing him second on the all-time T20I run-scorer list.
Rohit, on the other hand, ends his T20I career as the format’s top run-getter, with 4,231 runs in 151 games at a strike rate exceeding 140. He struck five centuries and 32 fifties, with a highest score of 121*.