Shreyas Iyer was excluded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from the central contracts in 2024. This came after Iyer did not make himself available for Mumbai’s Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He, however, has been picked for the Ranji semifinals starting March 2.
While announcing the central contracts for 2023-24, the BCCI once again advised all India cricketers to play domestic games when not on national duty.
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” said the BCCI 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.
Their exclusion can be seen as a stern message to young players unwilling to put in the hard yards in first-class cricket while chasing white-ball glory and lucrative IPL contracts.
Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit in a recent interview backed his captain, saying that Iyer will not be affected by the snub.
“I will not say Shreyas must be included in a certain Grade, but he is definitely a player who can serve India in any format. He has had an injury issue, but it was solved. He is a good performer and even scored a century [105 against New Zealand in 2021 at Kanpur] on Test debut. In our future series, there may be some players who will not be in form, so naturally, Shreyas will be there. He will play domestic cricket and can perform in the IPL. He is going to be useful for Indian cricket in any format,” Pandit said in an interview with Mid Day.
Pandit, who is also the coach of Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy, was surprised that India’s all-format player Iyer was excluded from the central contract list.
“It’s surprising that Shreyas was not considered for the annual contracts, because he is India’s all-format player. We don’t know the reason, but I think he should walk into the pool of India’s contracted players. He could have definitely fitted in any Grade. Knowing Shreyas, I don’t think it will affect him. He will definitely fight and perform. He has that fighting spirit,” Pandit added.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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