India, Feb. 10 -- The moment the BCCI's 2025-26 central contracts dropped, it quietly drew a new line around what India now treats as top tier. Only three names made Grade A - and that scarcity matters more than the label itself. In that reshuffle, the most revealing story isn't that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli sit in Grade B. It is that Ravindra Jadeja stays in the highest bracket despite not being able to fire in one of the two formats he plays for India in Why, you ask? Simple. His value is not only reputation, but rather a team-structure play.

Let us start with the list, because it is the clearest signal. The official retainership has Grade A as Ravindra Jadeja, Shubman Gill and Jasprit Bumrah - the only three in the top tier, while...