Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have announced their men’s central contracts for the 2026 season, introducing a new contract structure and expanding the list of centrally contracted players. The new contracts are effective from January 1 to December 31, 2026.
Major changes made by BCB to 2026 contract structure
BCB has made significant changes to its central contract system for the 2026 season:
A+ category removed: The Board has decided to eliminate the top tier ‘A+’ category from the contract list. This decision was taken due to Bangladesh’s lack of cricketers playing all three formats regularly. As a result, no player has been placed in the A+ category this year.
Expanded Player Pool: The total number of centrally contracted players has increased from 22 in the 2025 list to 28 in the 2026 list.
Four Tier System: Players are now distributed across four grades: A, B, C and D, with associated monthly retainers.
Grade-wise Contract List and Salary
Here are the complete details of Bangladesh players in each grade along with their monthly salaries:
| Category | player | Monthly Salary (BDT) |
|---|---|---|
| grade A | Nazmul Hussain Shanto, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Liton DasTaskin Ahmed | 800,000 taka |
| grade B | Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haq, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur RahmanTauheed Hridoy, Shadman Islam, Tanjeed Hasan Tamim, Rishad Hussain, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmood, Nahid Rana | 600,000 taka |
| grade c | Soumya Sarkar, Zekar Ali Anik, Shoriful Islam, Tanzeem Hasan Saqib, Nasum Ahmed, Syed Khalid Ahmed | 400,000 taka |
| grade d | Saif Hasan, Parvez Hussain Emon, Tanveer Islam, Naeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Shamim Hussain, Qazi Nurul Hasan Sohan | 200,000 taka |
Central contracts through 2026 include several significant changes based on player performance and career decisions:
Taskin Ahmed demoted to: The fast bowler, who was the only A+ graded player in 2025, has been downgraded to Grade A. The decision comes after an Achilles injury kept him out of all Test matches in 2025, although he remains active in white-ball cricket.
Mushfiqur Rahim moved to Grade B: The experienced batsman has moved to Grade B after retiring from ODIs in March 2025.
Promotion of young players: Many young cricketers got promotion due to their strong performance. Tanjid Hasan, who was Bangladesh’s leading run-scorer in T20Is in 2025 with 775 runs in 27 matches, has been promoted to Grade B. Leg spinner Rishad Hussain, who topped the wicket charts in both ODIs and T20Is last season, also earned promotion to Grade B.
First time contract recipient: Batsmen Saif Hasan and Pervez Hussain Imon as well as spinners Hasan Murad and Tanveer Islam have got central contracts for the first time. All these have been kept in Grade D.
Notable omissions: Test opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy has failed to make it to the contract list for 2026. Experienced all-rounder Mahmudullah, who has retired from all formats, was not included in the new list as expected.
Players returning on contract: Spinner Nayeem Hasan, batsman Shamim Hussain and wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan have regained their places in the central contract after being dropped earlier.
