BCCI announced their 2023/24 annual player retainership contracts for the senior India men’s team yesterday (February 28). It caused a stir, particularly around the omissions of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan.

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Iyer, who has been a regular in the Indian ODI side and was the first-choice middle order batter in the Test side till last month, was not awarded a central contract. Similarly, Kishan, who has been a regular feature in the Indian white-ball squads and also made his Test debut in the West Indies last year, was ignored as well.

BCCI’s press release mentioned that “Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations.”

While no official explanation has been given regarding the omissions of Iyer and Kishan, it is widely assumed that both have been reprimanded for not playing domestic cricket.

Kishan had pulled out of the South Africa tour in December last year citing “mental fatigue”. Since then, he has not made himself available for selection for the national team, but was spotted practicing with Hardik Pandya while skipping Ranji Trophy games for his Jharkhand.

Iyer, on the other hand, played the first two Test matches of the series against England before he was dropped. He then missed Mumbai’s quarter-final in the Ranji Trophy due to a back issue which he was supposedly cleared off by the BCCI medical team. Instead, Iyer was seen in a KKR camp, possibly irking the powers that be in the BCCI.

Rohit Sharma, India captain, spoke on identifying players who “have the hunger” after the Ranchi Test, two days ahead of the central contract announcement: “This [Test cricket] is the toughest format. And if you want success in this format, if you want to excel, having that hunger and desire is very important. Only those guys who have the hunger will be given opportunities. And it is apparent which guys don’t have the hunger and don’t want to be here.”

While he didn’t take names, there were speculations that his comments might have been aimed at one or both of Kishan andIyer. Their exclusion from the central contracts list has only added to those speculations. Some believe this is a step in the right direction as it prioritises Indian cricket, while others feel Iyer and Kishan have been hard done by.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri expressed his support for Iyer and Kishan, saying that he has “no doubt” they’ll “conquer once again”. Irfan Pathan cited the example of Hardik Pandya to mention that different rules should not be applied to different players when it comes to enforcing participation in domestic cricket.

There has, however, been unanimous praise for BCCI’s step of introducing fast-bowling contracts with the likes of VVS Laxman, Ian Bishop, Harsha Bhogle, and Shastri commending the move.

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Aakash ChopraBcciHarsha BhogleIrfan PathanIshan KishanRavi ShastriShreyas IyerIndia cricket news