Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed the BCCI's decision to terminate the contracts of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan for not playing Ranji Trophy cricket despite being fit and eligible for selection.
Ganguly, who was the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for four years from 2019 to 2022, also agreed with the board that cricketers in the country should play domestic cricket if they are fit and not on national duty.
“I think the BCCI wants them to play first-class cricket. I am surprised why Shreyas Iyer has not played Ranji Trophy. It is a premier tournament and you are supposed to play.
"So, it is a decision by BCCI and what they have thought right they have done. Every contracted cricketer must play first-class cricket because that is the basic premise of cricket in this country,” Ganguly told RevzSportz.
Iyer, Kishan dropped from BCCI central contracts list
Dada's statement comes a day after both Kishan and Iyer lost their central contracts due to their refusal to play for Jharkhand and Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy.
Kishan opted out of Jharkhand's last couple of games of the tournament and instead, went to Baroda to train for the upcoming IPL 2024 with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya and his elder brother Krunal.
Iyer on the other hand, cited back injury as the reason for pulling out of Mumbai's Ranji campaign even though the National Cricket Academy declared him fit to play. Iyer, just like Kishan, instead chose to attend Kolkata Knight Riders' pre-season camp which did not go down well with the BCCI selectors.
Dada urges Indian youngsters to play domestic cricket
"You are supposed to play first-class cricket. Once you are a contracted player, you are expected to play in the Premier tournament. Shreyas Iyer is playing in the semi-final for Mumbai in a couple of days.
"Yes, they are young people and Ishan has surprised me. He was part of the Indian team in all formats. Such a big contract in IPL. I don’t know why he has done that. You must play especially when you are as gifted as Ishan Kishan. When you are playing for India in all formats, you must play. I was surprised by his decision not to," Ganguly added.
