Debate on axing Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan : Is it justified to exclude Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan by BCCI ?

Sunil Gavaskar expressed his bewilderment regarding Ishan Kishan’s absence from his Ranji Trophy team, Jharkhand, which led to both Kishan and Shreyas Iyer being excluded from the BCCI’s central contracts list for failing to participate in domestic cricket, despite not being part of the national team.

In his column for Mid Day, Gavaskar voiced his perplexity over Kishan’s absence from Jharkhand’s Ranji Trophy matches, as it remains unclear why the player chose not to participate. He hinted that while Iyer had played in the Ranji Trophy before the England series, the punishment meted out to him might have been too severe, considering he hadn’t outrightly refused to play in the tournament.

The BCCI’s decision to remove star players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the central contracts list sparked a global discussion. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman, Kamran Akmal, supported the BCCI’s move, lauding it as a display of effective management. He praised the board for taking such decisive action against Kishan and Iyer for disregarding its directives.

Former Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly, opined that IPL careers could coexist with red-ball cricket careers, contrary to the beliefs of some young cricketers. Ganguly cited examples of legendary cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and present-day stars like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, emphasizing that players could excel in both formats simultaneously. He underscored the importance of balancing red-ball and white-ball cricket and urged young cricketers to embrace the opportunity to play both.

The controversy surrounding Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer arose when they were dropped from the BCCI’s central contracts list for consistently ignoring the board’s instructions to participate in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Despite being cautioned by the board secretary against prioritizing IPL over domestic cricket, Kishan continued to disregard the directives and was spotted training with Mumbai Indians captain, Hardik Pandya, in Baroda, which didn’t sit well with the selectors involved in finalizing the contract list.

Ganguly reiterated for Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer :

Kishan and Iyer should have no difficulty playing both red-ball and white-ball cricket simultaneously. He emphasized that the schedules of first-class cricket and IPL don’t conflict, allowing players to participate in both formats without any issues.

Gavaskar highlighted that Iyer had indeed played in a Ranji Trophy game as requested by the Indian team management before the Test series, suggesting that his exclusion from the contract list might have been unjustified. He explained that Iyer had missed the quarter-finals due to back pain, for which he had received clearance from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) trainers. However, this seemed to work against him in the board’s assessment.

On Wednesday, the BCCI made an unprecedented decision to drop Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the annual contract list as a stern message to those neglecting domestic cricket. Despite not playing since the World Cup due to injury recovery, Hardik Pandya retained his place in Grade A.

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