Bangladesh demotes star players from their Central Contracts for 2026 season

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to demote their two veteran players, Taskin Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahim, to lower grades in their 2026 season of the central contracts for the men’s cricketers. Taskin was part of the A-plus category in the 2025 edition, with a monthly salary of BDT 1 million, which is approximately $ 8,169. He now joins the Test, ODI, and T20I captains, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Litton Das, in Category A. 

This is the second tier in the BCB’s policy, where each player will receive approximately US $ 6,535 per month. No player has been kept in the A+ category at this time. It’s not clear why Taskin Ahmed has been demoted from the A+ category despite his powerplay performances.

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On the other hand, Rahim retired from ODIs in 2025 and was in Grade A last year and now finds himself in Grade B, where he will earn BDT 600000 per month. Ten other players are also part of the list, which includes the red-ball specialists- Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, and Shadman Islam.

Taskin Ahmed demoted from A+ category in BCB’s 2026 central contract

Shadman is also among the four players who got the promotion from Grade C to B, along with Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain, and Mahedi Hasan. The BCB has expanded the Grade D from last year, when only two players were in that category.

Bangladesh has made a very slow start to the year after the government decided not to send their team to the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, as their international cricket will resume with a three-match home ODI series against Pakistan on March 11, 13, and 15.

Bangladesh central contracts for 2026 season

Grade A: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das, and Taskin Ahmed

Grade B: Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Towhid Hridoy, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, and Nahid Rana

Grade C: Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, and Khaled Ahmed

Grade D: Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Shamim Hossain, and Nurul Hasan.