The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s 2026 contract list landed quietly this week, yet it still raised eyebrows.
Key details first.
• No-one has made the A+ bracket – the band that pays BDT 1 million a month.
• Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, the sole A+ cricketer last year, now sits in Grade A on BDT 800,000.
• Mushfiqur Rahim drops further, from A to B, collecting BDT 600,000.
• Captains Najmul Hossain Shanto (Tests), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (ODIs) and Litton Das (T20Is) stay in Grade A.
• Grades C and D have been bulked up, seven names now in the bottom tier.
So, why the reshuffle? No formal explanations have come from the board. A senior selector, requesting anonymity, offered a brief line: “We wanted space between performance, availability and the workload plan.” That circles back to Taskin. The 30-year-old’s overs have been managed carefully across formats, and insiders insist the demotion is a budget call rather than a reflection on his wickets.
Mushfiqur’s case is plainer. He gave up 50-over cricket last year and, at 38, is being viewed as a red-ball specialist who can still answer T20 calls if required. “I’ve signed what was put in front of me,” he told reporters in Dhaka, declining to elaborate.
Lower down, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Mahedi Hasan have been rewarded with a bump from C to B – modest rises, but rises all the same. Saif Hassan and Nurul Hasan head a longer list in Grade D, where the monthly cheque is BDT 200,000.
“Look, everyone wants the bigger contract,” Taijul Islam admitted during a net session in Mirpur. “You don’t pretend otherwise, but you also know it’s earned over a season, not handed out in a press release.”
Bangladesh’s men have had a subdued start to 2026, notably missing the ongoing T20 World Cup after the government pulled the plug on the tour. Their calendar restarts with three home ODIs against Pakistan on 12, 14 and 16 March – the first chance for players to show the board whether the grading matches output.
2026 BCB central contracts
Grade A – BDT 800,000 per month: Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das, Taskin Ahmed
Grade B – BDT 600,000: Mushfiqur Rahim, Mominul Haque, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Towhid Hridoy, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Nahid Rana
Grade C – BDT 400,000: Soumya Sarkar, Jaker Ali, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed
Grade D – BDT 200,000: Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan
Whether the empty A+ slot is a temporary measure or a pointed message will become clearer as the season unfolds. For now, the pecking order is set, cheques are signed, and the players get back to the middle.
