NEW DELHI: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly expressed his surprise at seeing players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who were cut from the national team, not playing in domestic cricket.
Iyer and Kishan, international players for India, were cut from their central contracts with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday due to the controversy surrounding their non-participation in the current Ranji Trophy.
Iyer was already ruled out of from the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, which took place on February 23.
Despite not playing for the national squad, Kishan recently skipped Ranji Trophy matches. 'Personal issues' caused him to withdraw from the Indian squad for the Test series against South Africa that was played last year. He skipped Ranji matches involving Jharkhand in November of last year in order to play in a T20I for India.
The 51-year-old claimed that because the Ranji Trophy is a prestigious competition, all players should participate in it and that the BCCI wants them to play first-class cricket.
"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 Revsportz.
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>PTIThe former president of the BCCI went on to say that Kishan's choice to skip the Ranji Trophy caught him off guard.
"You are supposed to play first class cricket. Once you are a contracted player, you are expected to play the Premier tournament. Shreyas Iyer is playing the semi-final for Mumbai in a couple of days' time. 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," the former left-hand opener added.
(With ANI inputs)
