The Indian cricket team has seen a lot of changes in recent times, with many senior players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma, and Wriddhiman Saha being dropped for the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka at home.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the national selectors have decided to focus on the younger generation of players to groom them in Test cricket. While Pujara and Rahane might get a chance to get back into the Indian whites, Saha and Ishant’s future looks gloomy.
Well, Saha was already told that Rishabh Pant and KS Bharat would be preferred for the keeper's slot in the Indian Test team, while the emergence of Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Siraj might mean that Ishant may never play for the country again.
Despite all this, they were given central contracts by the BCCI, which surprised many, including Aakash Chopra.
Notably, Ishant, Pujara, and Rahane were demoted to Grade B from Grade A in BCCI's central contracts list, while Saha was also demoted from Group B to C, which surprised many.
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Reacting to the same, Chopra questioned why Saha and Ishant were handed the central contracts despite the fact that they were not in the scheme of things.
Chopra said on his YouTube channel: “Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha's names are also there in BCCI's central contracts. In fact, Ishant Sharma is at 3 crores. Are you wondering why? Why was Saha given a central contract when you have told him that you are not going to select him at all?”
The cricketer-turned-commentator further explained, “It seems Ishant Sharma also has an extremely limited role left in Test cricket, so why is he in the 3-crores contract and not 1 crore? These are things that you wonder? These are the contracts from October 2021 to the upcoming September. That is why Saha has the right. He was India's player in this contract period. He scored runs for India in December, that is why his name is there in this list, same goes for Ishant Sharma, he was playing regularly.”
Chopra also predicted that Saha and Ishant might not get a contract in the next renewal.
He concluded, “This could possibly be the last contract for Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha. Will you see them playing after October - I am not 100% certain. They have already told Saha and it looks 50-50 for Ishant Sharma as well. I love him to bits but it seems the time has come for his exit.”
