The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah finally revealed the exact reason behind axing Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the BCCI central Contract.
Right after the announcement of the central contract players for the 2023-24 season, huge arguments erupted on social media for not including Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in the contract.
In last year’s central contract, Iyer was named in the Grade B category while Kishan has been part of the Grade C category.
At that time many rumours started to spread regarding their snub from the central contract but the exact reason behind the move was not revealed. In a recent interaction, Jay Shah revealed the exact reason behind the decision to exclude the duo from the contract list.
“You can check the constitution. I am just a convener (of the selection meeting). That decision lies with Ajit Agarkar, even when these two players (Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer) who did not play domestic (cricket), the decision to drop them (from the central contracts list) was only his”, he said during a media interaction at the BCCI head office on Thursday.
“My role is just to implement. And we have got new players (in place), like Sanju (Samson). Nobody is indispensable,” he added.
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan skipped recent Ranji Trophy matches for their respective domestic teams even after getting a directive from the BCCI. On the other hand, Hardik Pandya accepted to play Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in order for BCCI to consider him for the white ball tournaments.
“Yes, I had spoken with them. Media had even carried the reports. Even Hardik (Pandya) said if BCCI is considering me for white-ball, then I am ready to play Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Any player will have to play, even if they do not want to, they will have to,” Shah added.
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