Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has questioned Axar Patel’s demotion in the BCCI central contract list from Grade B to Grade C. Patel has performed consistently in all three formats of the game and he is also the team’s vice-captain in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026.

Chopra questioned what must Patel do more after his demotion in the contract list, which was released by the BCCI on Monday. The renowned commentator also questioned why Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Kuldeep Yadav are not in Grade A. Chopra reckons even fast bowler Arshdeep Singh should not be Grade C.

“Axar Patel ko aur kya karna hoga to get what he deserves? Three-format player. Vice-captain in one format. Grade-C?? Also, if Jadeja and Gill are in Grade-A, why aren’t Hardik, Rahul and Kuldeep?? Even Arshdeep shouldn’t be in Grade-C,” wrote Chopra on X.

Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Only three players are in Grade A: Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja. If two-format players like Gill and Jadeja are in Grade A, then what did Hardik Pandya or KL Rahul do wrong? Kuldeep Yadav plays all three formats. Axar Patel is India’s T20 vice-captain, plays ODIs, is always available for Tests — yet he’s in Grade C. Arshdeep Singh, India’s best T20 bowler, is also in Grade C. Mohammed Siraj is in Grade B despite being a three-format player.”

“Frankly, this feels unfair. Axar Patel absolutely deserved to be in Grade A,” said Chopra.

Central Contract List 2025-26:

Grade A (3 players): Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja

Grade B (11 players): Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer

Grade C (15 players): Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Ravi Bishnoi, Ruturaj Gaikwad