Former India opener Aakash Chopra believes that the omission of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the BCCI central contracts list indicates that the two would face disciplinary action.
Shreyas and Kishan were both under fire for failing to appear for their respective teams in the Ranji Trophy 2024, despite a BCCI regulation requiring centrally contracted players to play local matches while not on national duty.
While discussing Shreyas and Kishan’s exclusion from the BCCI 2023-24 central contracts, Aakash Chopra said that the two may have paid the price for not obeying the cricket board’s directives.
“There are already 30 players in the list, which will become 32 after India’s next match. If your name is not among the 32 players, then it merits a question as to what has happened. In the press release, it was mentioned that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered.”
“It has been communicated by both Jay Shah and Rohit Sharma that you need to play domestic cricket and that if you are not serious about it, there will be consequences. No one directly says what the consequences are, but these are the first signals about BCCI stating, ‘we don’t think you are serious, so your names have been removed.”
Aakash Chopra
The 46-year-old reacted on Shreyas’ excellent performance at the 2023 World Cup:
“Let’s be fair – Shreyas Iyer had scored 500 runs in the World Cup. His name not being there indicates that it’s a disciplinary rap on the knuckles. Don’t quote me on this, but it seems like that. The same thing can be said about Ishan Kishan. He was a part of the squad, but he took a break and did not come back to play first-class cricket when his team was playing.”
Aakash Chopra
Shreyas will play in the Ranji Trophy 2024 semifinals for Mumbai versus Tamil Nadu. Kishan’s team, Jharkhand, hasn’t made it into the last four yet, which means he won’t be competing in the contest. He presently competes for Reliance in the DY Patil T20 Cup 2024.
What BCCI said about Shreyas and Kishan while announcing central contracts
On Wednesday, February 28, the BCCI issued an official press release announcing the central contracts for 2023-24.
The announcement contained a statement on Shreyas and Kishan’s exclusion, which read:
“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations.
“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team,” the press release on BCCI contracts concluded.
Shreyas Iyer was axed from the Indian side after the first two Tests against England, and Ishan Kishan has not played an international match since November of last year.