Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan’s exclusion was the highlight of BCCI’s central contracts list announced for the 2023-24 season on Wednesday (February 28).
Both batters seemed to have paid the price for ignoring the board’s directives to take part in the Ranji Trophy.
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” a statement from BCCI read over the duo's absence from the central contracts.
Sharing his thoughts on the same, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan expressed confidence that Shreyas and Ishan will come back stronger.
However, Pathan wondered whether limited-overs specialists like Hardik Pandya should also be asked to play domestic white-ball tournaments when not on national duty.
Taking to social media platform X, Pathan wrote: “They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don’t want to play red ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this doesn’t apply to all, then Indian cricket won’t achieve the desired results!”
Talking about the BCCI central contracts, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have been placed in the highest category (Grade A+).
KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Siraj have been promoted to the Grade A category in the central contracts list, highlighting their significant contributions and performances in recent times. R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami and Hardik Pandya are also part of the same category.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who is still recovering from the injuries he sustained in a horrific car accident in December 2022, has been placed in Grade B alongside Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Akshar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma are among the notable names included in the central contracts list, which will run from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. Both players have been added to the Grade C category, which includes as many as 15 cricketers.
LIST OF ANNUAL CONTRACTS:
Grade A+ (4 Athletes) Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A (6 Athletes) R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
Grade B (5 Athletes) Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Akshar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Grade C (15 Athletes) Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.
