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No place for Ishan Kishan in the central contract!Image Credit source: PTI

T20 World Cup 2026 is starting from Saturday 7th February in India and Sri Lanka. Team India will take the field on the very first day of the tournament, when it will face America in the group stage match. In this match to be played at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, eyes will also be on Ishan Kishan, who recently returned to the team and has been batting brilliantly since then. But before he could show some of his magic, he has been given a big blow by BCCI. According to a report, Ishaan has been dropped from the annual central contract by the Indian Board.

Every year BCCI announces central contracts for the players representing Team India in international cricket. Under this, these players are divided into different grades according to their importance and format. Then the Indian Board gives these players a fixed salary for the entire year, whether they play any matches that year or not. This time BCCI has prepared central contracts for the 2025-26 season, which are yet to be officially announced.

However, a report has claimed that this time 30 players have been selected for central contracts. But the name of star wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan is not there in it. Ishaan recently returned to Team India after about two and a quarter years, when he was selected in the squad for the T20 series against New Zealand as well as the T20 World Cup. In such a situation, the hope was that he would get a place in the central contract also because these series and the World Cup are coming in the current season only, for which contracts are to be given.

The surprising thing is that in the last season he was a part of this central contract, whereas during that time he was not even selected in Team India even once. Then Ishaan was kept in C grade, for which he got Rs 1 crore per year. However, an official announcement is yet to be made and in such a situation, based on the performance in the T20 World Cup, Ishaan can be given a central contract even in the middle of the season.

Not only Ishaan, but 4 other names are missing from the central contract this time. Last year, BCCI had included 34 players, out of which 5 have been dismissed. Young batsman Sai Sudarshan has been included as a new player. Apart from Ishaan, a big face among those dropped is veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami. Shami was in A grade last year, for which he got Rs 5 crore per year.

But Shami, who has been out of Team India since the Champions Trophy 2025, was also involved in a war of words with Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar in the last few months and now he has been released from his contract. It is clear from this that now the doors of Team India are closed forever for Shami.

Apart from these, young batsman Sarfaraz Khan has also been dropped from the central contract. Sarfaraz was included in C grade last time. But he has not been able to return to the team since the Test series on Australia tour (2024-25). At the same time, Bengal fast bowler Mukesh Kumar and Madhya Pradesh captain Rajat Patidar have also not been able to make a place in the central contract this time. Both of them were also in C grade, in which the players involved get Rs 1 crore per year.