Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer likely to lose BCCI contracts: Report

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to take action against Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer for skipping the ongoing Ranji Trophy first-class tournament.

While Kishan has not been playing cricket since India toured South Africa in December-January, Iyer was dropped from the ongoing five-Test series against England after playing the first two games.

Iyer 'fit'

Kishan has taken a break from cricket due to personal reasons while Iyer said he is not “fit” but a fitness report from the National Cricket Academy (NCA) had cleared him of any fitness issues.

Iyer opted not to play for Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy game against Assam and also missed the ongoing quarter-final versus Baroda. The batter informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he was not available for selection due to a back spasms issue.

Currently, Kishan is training in Baroda with his teammate and Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya. The duo is preparing for IPL 2024 which starts in Chennai on March 22. Kishan plays for Jharkhand in domestic cricket.

Jay Shah's warning

According to a report in Times of India, the BCCI is likely to axe both Kishan and Iyer from the central contract list.

“The selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, has 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,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

Last week, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had said the board had informed centrally contracted players to play Ranji Trophy.

“They have been informed on phone already and I'm going to write letters as well that if your chairman of selectors, your coach and your captain are asking for it then you will have to play red-ball cricket,” Shah said in Rajkot.

What Dravid said on Kishan

Earlier this month, India’s head coach Rahul Dravid was asked about Kishan and he said the wicketkeeper-batter had to play some cricket to be considered for selection to the national team.

“There is a way back for anyone and everyone. It’s not that we rule out anybody from anything. Again, I just don’t want to go on labouring about the Ishan Kishan point. I have tried to explain this as best as I can. He had requested a break, we were happy to give him a break,” Dravid had said.

“Whenever he is ready, I didn't say he has to play domestic cricket, I said whenever he is ready... he needs to play some cricket and come back. The choice is his. We are not forcing him to do anything. We are in touch with him. We know what it is. He hasn't yet started playing, right? At the moment, it's not something that we would consider. He is maybe not ready. He decides when he wants to be ready,” he added.