Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are reportedly set to pay a big price for opting out of playing in Ranji Trophy 2024 despite instructions from the Indian team management and BCCI. Reports have suggested that both Kishan and Iyer are likely to lose their central contracts when the BCCI announces the list.
Kishan has been on an extended hiatus "due to personal reasons" since returning from India's tour of South Africa in December and January. He has been practicing with his Mumbai Indians skipper, Hardik Pandya, in Baroda, but has not played for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy.
Iyer was absent from Mumbai's final Ranji Trophy league encounter against Assam at BKC, and he will also miss the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda on Friday.
The middle-order batsman had notified the Mumbai Cricket Association that he was unavailable for selection owing to back spasms, but Nitin Patel, the National Cricket Academy's head of sports science and health, stated in an email to the BCCI and national selectors that Iyer was 'fit'.
"The selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, have almost finalised the list of centrally contracted players for the 2023-24 season too, which the BCCI will announce soon. Kishan and Iyer are likely to be excluded from that list, as both haven't been playing domestic cricket despite the BCCI's diktat to do so," a source told Times of India.
Meanwhile, a source close to Shreyas Iyer revealed that the batter was "excluded from India's squad for the last three Tests as a precautionary measure after he complained of a back problem."
"Patel's email to the BCCI was written after the second Test against England. Since then, a back problem has bothered Iyer. Iyer was one of India's top-performing batsmen in the ODI World Cup in India last year. He won't lose the contract just because he missed the odd Ranji match," the source said.
Recently, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had given a stern warning to centrally contracted and India A cricketers last week that not participating in the ongoing Ranji Trophy will not be tolerated and chief selector Ajit Agarkar would be given a "free hand in this regard".
(Times of India report)
