The BCCI on Wednesday rolled out its central contract list for 2023-24 and the omission of Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has become a massive talking point. The duo has been sidelined by the board while several fresh faces have been handed a central contract. The BCCI has specifically mentioned in its statement that the cricketers have to prioritize domestic cricket if not on national duty. As suggested by several media reports, Iyer and Kishan are paying the price for overlooking the board’s diktat.
Iyer, who turned up for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy fixture against Andhra, before playing the first two Tests against England, in Hyderabad and Vizag. Later on February 10, the BCCI announced the squad for the last three Tests which didn’t feature Iyer, nether the reason of his exclusion was mentioned.
It was learned that Iyer complained of a back spasm and moved to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. Eventually, he was cleared by the NCA medical team but he didn’t make himself available either for the remaining England Tests nor for Ranji Trophy. Meanwhile, he was spotted in Kolkata Knight Rider’s pre-season camp which reportedly upset the selectors.
On the other hand, Kishan made himself unavailable for the South Africa Tests citing mental fatigue. He has returned to action in the ongoing DY Patil T20 cup in Mumbai and before that, he was supposedly training with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda.
According to ESPN Cricinfo, the selectors were not pleased with both cricketers skipping domestic cricket and preferred preparations for the IPL.
“The selectors don’t doubt their ability. But if the NCA is saying you are fit and you are not making yourself available for the Test series, how can the BCCI offer you a contract,” an official was quoted as saying by the website.
“After the IPL, if they happen to get selected and fulfil the criteria of the number of matches required for a pro-rata contract, they will be awarded a contract,” the source added.
All this while Indian coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma have repeatedly emphasised the importance of domestic cricket. The latter spoke, after winning the Ranchi Test, about giving a chance to those who are ‘hungry’ to play Tests as it’s the toughest format.
Confusion on Iyer’s condition
Iyer complained of a back spasm after the Vizag Test and headed to NCA where he was cleared of an injury by the medical team. But when he didn’t show up for Mumbai’s next Ranji Trophy match, the Mumbai Cricket Association sources said he had back spasms.
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