On Monday, 22 athletes from here received central contracts from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for 2025. Many of the contracted players participated in Bangladesh’s team at the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan and Dubai. Mahmudullah, a seasoned all-rounder, has advised BCB Cricket Operations that he does not want to be considered for a national contract beyond February 2025, so he will be left behind the list beginning in March.
Mushfiqur Rahim, a former captain who retired from ODIs last week, will start Grade B from March. Also missing is wicketkeeper Parvez Hossain Emon, who did not show up in the Champions Trophy.
Included in the contracts are wicketkeeper Litton Das, fast bowler Hasan Mahmud, Test opener Shadman Islam, spinner Taijul Islam, and bowler Shoriful Islam, who missed the Champions Trophy due to injury. Batting all-rounder Mominul Haque, bowling all-rounder Mahedi Hasan, and bowler Khaled Ahmed are among others on the list.
Starting from the year’s start, the agreements have been grouped into five levels with pace Taskin Ahmed being the only player in the A+ class; Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Litton Das, and Mushfiqur Rahim were mentioned in the A category.
In the B category are Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mahmudullah (until February 2025), Mustafizur Rahman, Tawhid Hridoy, Hasan Mahmud, and Nahid Rana; in the C category are Shadman Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali, Tanzid Hasan, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, and Mahedi Hasan.
The two D category beneficiaries were Khaled Ahmed and Nasum Ahmed.
Bangladesh exited the group stage of the just finished Champions Trophy following defeats to India and New Zealand and a washout of their match against host Pakistan. Even so, for a nation like Bangladesh to rise to the top eight in the ODI rankings and be included in the Champions Trophy ahead of squads including former World Cup champion Sri Lanka and the West Indies, this was a great accomplishment.
