NEW DELHI: The BCCI on Wednesday revealed its list of centrally-contracted players for the year. India captain Rohit Sharma, batting ace Virat Kohli, star speedster Jasprit Bumrah, and dashing allrounder Ravindra Jadeja maintained their positions in the top tier, while Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not included in any category.
Ishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team's campaign in Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty since leaving from the tour of South Africa in December last, citing personal reasons. He has instead focussed on preparing for the IPL next month.
On the other hand, Iyer did not make himself available for Mumbai's Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team following the second Test against England.
The middle-order batsman Iyer, however, has been picked for the Ranji semifinals starting March 2.
After BCCI announced its central contracts to players, former India cricketer Irfan Pathan took to social media and said: They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger."
1/10:Annual central contracts: BCCI drops Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan
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2/10:BCCI
<p>BCCI, on Wednesday, sent a strong message that not playing in the Ranji Trophy unless you are on national duty or are unfit will not be tolerated. </p>
3/10:The exclusions
<p>BCCI excluded India's middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan from the list of 30 centrally contracted players. </p>Getty Images
4/10:Shreyas Iyer
<p>Shreyas Iyer missed the last league match and the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, citing back pain, but has been included for the semifinal against Tamil Nadu from March 2 in Mumbai. </p>PTI
5/10:Ishan Kishan
<p>Ishan Kishan came back midway from India's tour of South Africa due to 'personal reasons' in December last year, missed the Test series against England and didn't play in the Ranji for Jharkhand. </p>TNN
6/10:KL Rahul
<p>Middle-order batsmen KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and pacer Mohammed Siraj have all been elevated to the Grade A category. </p>Getty Images
7/10:Rishabh Pant
<p>Rishabh Pant, who has been out of action since January 2023 while recovering from a horrific road accident, finds himself in Grade B. </p>Getty Images
8/10:Grade A
<p>Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Shami have been retained in Grade A along with Hardik Pandya. </p>Getty Images
9/10:Top grade
<p>Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja have been retained in the A+ category. </p>Getty Images
10/10:Axar Patel
<p>Axar Patel, who had a Grade A contract last season, has been moved to Grade B after losing his place in the India Test side to Kuldeep Yadav. </p>PTI"If players like Hardik don’t want to play red ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this doesn’t apply to all, then Indian cricket won’t achieve the desired results!," Pathan said.
While announcing the central contracts, the BCCI once again advised all the Indian cricketers to play domestic games when not on national duty.
The exclusion of Iyer and Kishan can be seen as a stern message to young players unwilling to put in the hard yards in first-class cricket, while chasing white-ball glory and lucrative IPL contracts.
