The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday cracked the whip on Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer for not playing Ranji Trophy 2024 by terminating their central contracts for 2023-24.
Both Kishan and Iyer opted to train for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) instead of representing their domestic teams Jharkhand and Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.
BCCI's clear directive - Play domestic cricket
The Indian cricket board has now made it crystal clear that only players who play domestic cricket when not in the national setup will be considered for future selection and central contracts.
A section of Indian cricket fans however, are not happy with the "harsh decision" taken by the BCCI against Iyer and Kishan, who had been performing well in white-ball cricket over the last couple of years.
Controversy surrounding Kishan & Iyer
It was Kishan who came into the limelight before Iyer for opting out of Jharkhand's Ranji Trophy campaign after he took a personal break from international cricket citing mental fatigue. Kishan was reportedly asked to go back to domestic cricket but he chose to train with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and his elder brother Krunal for the upcoming IPL 2024.
Iyer on the other hand, was dropped from the Indian squad after repeated failures in the first 3 home Tests against England this month. He was also asked to play the Ranji for Mumbai but he cited back injury as the reason behind his pullout. The National Cricket Academy however, informed the BCCI that Iyer did not suffer any new injury and was fit to play.
Kishan made his return to competitive cricket in the DY Patil T20 Cup on Tuesday where he played for RBI and scored 19 runs from 11 balls.
