The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made a statement by stripping star Indian cricketers Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan of annual central contracts. Both of them skipped Ranji Trophy to prepare for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) despite the board making it clear that domestic cricket should be prioritised over franchise cricket.
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” BCCI said in a statement.
“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team,” the board added.
Monetary loss for Kishan and Iyer
Iyer was in Grade B in the previous cycle and received Rs 3 crore from the board. On the other hand, Kishan was in Group C getting a contract worth Rs 1 crore.
BCCI secretary’s warning
“All contracted players have been told on phone and I'll be writing to them too. If chairman of selectors, coach & captain want you to play red-ball cricket then you gotta play. ‘Nakhare Nahi Chalenge’ (no tantrums). And as far as Ishan Kishan is concerned, he is young, I am not saying this specifically about him as it will be applicable for all the players uniformly,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah told reporters before the Rajkot Test.
Kishan’s prolonged absence
Kishan requested a break from the board and returned home midway through the South Africa tour. He made himself unavailable for selection in the T20I series against Afghanistan and the Test series against England. He practised in Baroda preparing for IPL 2024. During his time, he refused to join Jharkhand’s Ranji Trophy squad. He recently made his return to competitive cricket in the DY Patil T20 tournament.
Iyer skips Ranji after getting dropped
Unlike Kishan, Iyer made one appearance in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 for Mumbai. He scored 48 for Mumbai before the Test series against England. Later, he was dropped from the squad due to a string of low scores. While initial reports claimed that Iyer was injured, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) declared him fit. He did not play Ranji Trophy and joined the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp.
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