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Former India captain Sourav Ganguly wants Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah to speak with Ishan Kishan after the wicketkeeper-batter was dropped from the list of centrally contracted players announced last month.
BCCI made a big statement when it did not consider Shreyas Iyer and Kishan for central contracts after they skipped Ranji Trophy matches. In the last year's annual retainership list, Iyer was in Grade B whereas Kishan was in Grade C.
Ganguly feels that players should give importance to domestic cricket and pointed out that Delhi Capitals (DC) players play both red-ball and white-ball cricket.
"For someone like Ishan Kishan, BCCI secretary Jay Shah, president Roger Binny, and the selectors need to speak to him. All this while he has played Ranji and then played white-ball cricket. Has it made him a poorer player? It hasn't," Ganguly told the Times of India.
"All the players picked in Delhi Capitals have played Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy. Even Ishant Sharma has played Ranji," he added.
Domestic cricket and IPL don't clash
Ganguly also mentioned that the Indian Premier League (IPL) does not clash with domestic cricket and questions why players want to play just white-ball format.
"They can play both red-ball and white-ball. IPL career can happen along with stint in first-class cricket. They don't clash. First-class cricket finishes and then there's almost a month before the IPL starts. I don't see any problem. A lot of the top quality players play Test cricket and white-ball cricket," said the 51-year-old.
Kishan asked for a break during India's tour of South Africa. He did not make himself available for selection for the T20I series against Afghanistan and the five-Test series against England. Ahead of the IPL, he trained in Baroda and recently participated in DY Patil T20 tournament.
No workload management for batters
Ganguly feels that workload management does not apply to batters but for fast bowlers.
"Honestly, workload is only for fast bowlers. Why do batters need any workload management? I can understand Bumrah being rested. Jimmy Anderson has played over 160 Tests. What workload are you talking about at the start of your career? I still maintain that Indian cricket's standard is superb," the 51-year-old added.
Kishan will be seen in action when Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on March 25.
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