Indian batters Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been hogging the headlines these days for not being included in the BCCI central contracts list for the 2023-24 season.
The duo lost the annual contracts after failing to adhere to the board's mandate of playing domestic cricket when not on national duty.
On Saturday (March 9), India head coach Rahul Dravid reacted on the same, clarifying that the team management had nothing to do with Iyer and Kishan losing their central contracts.
Dravid added that no one is out of contention and urged the two players to work hard and regain the faith of the selectors.
"I don't decide contracts or discuss that. I don't even know what the criteria is. Both are in the mix and hope they play cricket, stay fit and force the selectors to pick them. No one is out of contention, players without contracts have also played," Dravid said while addressing the media after India won the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala by an innings and 64 runs.
"Rohit and I select playing 11. Sometimes even I don't know who is contracted and who is not. No one is out of the mix," he added.
Shreyas Iyer, who was left out of the Test side after the second match against England in Vizag, didn't make himself available to play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy for his side's final group stage game and then the quarter-finals citing back pain.
However, an email from Nitin Patel, the head of sports science and medicine at the National Cricket Academy, later declared the middle-order batter fit.
On the other hand, Ishan Kishan had withdrawn from the Test series in South Africa last December, citing personal reasons. Since then, the wicketkeeper-batter has not been picked in any of the Indian squads.
Despite repeated reminders from Rahul Dravid and BCCI secretary Jay Shah, Kishan didn't make himself available for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24. It was only in the last week of February that the southpaw returned to competitive action via the DY Patil T20 Cup.
Meanwhile, Dravid welcomed the BCCI's landmark "Test Cricket Incentive Scheme", saying it's a nice reward for players who are consistent in the traditional format of the game.
Notably, BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Saturday announced a landmark incentive scheme to promote Test cricket. Under this scheme, players who have played seven or more Tests in a season (assuming 9 Tests in a season), will get a match fee of Rs 45 lakh.
A non-playing member will receive Rs 22.5 lakh per match. Those who play five or six Tests in a season will get Rs 30 lakh per match and a non-playing member will receive Rs 15 lakh. However, the scheme will not be applicable to players who play less than four Tests in a season.
"Hope money is not going to be the incentive to play Test cricket. It is nice to see that it is a recognition, it is a hard format. Nice that the BCCI is recognising that it is a reward, not an incentive," the India coach stated.
"We don’t celebrate 100 T20Is like we do 100 Tests right?" he added.
(India Today Inputs)
