The BCCI on Wednesday announced the list of central contracts for 2023-24, with captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja being put in Grade A+ category.

Notably, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were not on the central contracts list. The duo had reportedly been defying directives to take part in the Ranji Trophy, and the board has seemingly cracked the whip on the star players.

"Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations," a statement from BCCI read over the duo's absence from the central contracts.

Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma, however, were among the many new faces included in the central contracts list. The duo was added to the Grade C category, which includes 15 players; Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube, who made strong comebacks to the Indian T20I team, are a part of this category, too. Additionally, Jitesh Sharma, who replaced Ishan Kishanin the Indian T20I team, is also included in the 'C' list.

Rishabh Pant, who has been away from action since his horrific car crash in December 2022, was put on Grade B, which also includes Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Pant is likely to make a return in the Indian Premier League this year; Suryakumar, meanwhile, remains one of India's most promising batters in the shortest format.

Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, meanwhile, have represented the side in multiple formats over the past months, with the former producing crucial performances in the ongoing Test series against England.