'If players like Hardik Pandya don’t want to play...': Irfan Pathan raises huge 'doesn’t apply to all' question after Iyer and Kishan snubbed from BCCI contract

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan raised a huge question by name-dropping Hardik Pandya after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to drop the axe and cut Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the annual central contracts. The Indian cricket board punished Iyer and Kishan for ignoring the Ranji Trophy despite continued warnings. While Pathan expects Iyer and Kishan to make a strong comeback after the latest setback, the ex-India star also raised an eye-popping question.

Irfan, in a tweet on X, said that if players like Hardik Pandya don't want to play red-ball cricket, then they should be urged to play domestic white-ball competitions to make sure that the rules remain fair and square for all.

"They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don’t want to play red ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this doesn’t apply to all, then Indian cricket won’t achieve the desired results!" Pathan wrote on X.

Hardik Pandya recently returned to competitive cricket

India ace all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been sidelined since he suffered an injury during an ODI World Cup match last year. After undergoing intense rehabilitation, Hardik recently made his return to competitive cricket by taking part in a DY Patil T20 Cup match in Mumbai.

Hardik, who was named as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, will be seen in action during the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), scheduled to begin on March 22.

Here are the latest BCCI contracts:

Grade A-plus: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A: R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.

Grade B: Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar

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