The board of cricket control in India has announced a new contract for the players for the upcoming cricket season.
However, two of the notable exclusions from the Central contract were Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who were regular members of India’s squad in every format for the last two years.
One of the major reasons behind the axing of both Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan is that despite BCCI requesting players to play domestic matches on a number of occasions, both of these players did not show any interest in playing first-class cricket for their state.
Earlier, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said that “the BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.”
However, as per the reports, both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer can still obtain a central contract from BCCI, as a BCCI official said, “The selectors don’t doubt their ability, but if the NCA is saying you are fit and you are not making yourself available for the Test series, how can the BCCI offer you a contract? After the IPL, if they happen to get selected and fulfill the criteria of the number of matches required for a pro-rata contract, they will be awarded a contract.”.
According to BCCI contract policies, all the athletes who fulfill the criteria of 3 tests, 8 one-days, or 10 to 20 with a specific time duration will automatically be given a grade C contract.