The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has officially released its central contract list for 2026, revealing significant changes to the player grading system. In a surprising move, senior stars Taskin Ahmed and Mushfiqur Rahim have both been moved to lower salary tiers.
For the first time in recent years, no player has been placed in the A-plus category by BCB. Taskin Ahmed, who was the sole occupant of that top tier in 2025 with a monthly salary of BDT 1 million, has been moved down to Grade A.
He now joins captains Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Litton Das. Players in this second tier earn BDT 800,000 (approx. US $6,535) per month.
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The demotion of Taskin by BCB is particularly unexpected given his consistent performances, though team management has recently been managing his workload to keep him fit across all formats.
Meanwhile, veteran Mushfiqur Rahim has dropped from Grade A to Grade B following his retirement from ODIs in 2025. He will now earn BDT 600,000 monthly alongside ten others, including Test specialists Mominul Haque and Taijul Islam.
The 2026 list also rewards rising talent. Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain, and Mahedi Hasan have all been promoted from Grade C to Grade B.
Furthermore, the BCB has expanded Grade D significantly. While only two players held this rank last year, it now includes seven cricketers, such as Saif Hassan and the returning Nurul Hasan.
After a quiet start to the year due to missing the T20 World Cup, Bangladesh will return to action on March 11 for a three-match ODI series against Pakistan at home.
2026 Bangladesh central contracts:
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