Shreyas Iyer was anticipated to represent Mumbai in Ranji Trophy matches after losing out on keeping his spot in the Indian Test team. But due to health concerns, the top hitter decided not to play in the quarterfinal matchup against Baroda. Chief selector Ajit Agarkar became enraged when he saw the 29-year-old in the KKR camp in the interim. Iyer was punished by BCCI by being taken off the central contract list, notwithstanding his announcement that he would be available for the Ranji Trophy semifinal and final.
Conversely, Ishan Kishan stayed away from the domestic event for the whole duration with minimal communication. The BCCI reportedly contacted Kishan to invite him to the India team for the third Test match against England, but Kishan turned them down, saying he wasn’t prepared to play red-ball cricket. These two miscalculations on his part resulted in his removal from the central contract list by BCCI.
Head coach Rahul Dravid discussed these recent changes and said that the players are currently in the grand scheme of things.
He gave Ishan Kishan and Iyer advice to put in a lot of effort in their domestic cricket matches and get the selectors to choose them for the national team. According to the 51-year-old, the team management does not have any say in the players’ annual contracts, but both cricket players will be taken into consideration for the playing XI if they remain in the squad in the future.
They’re in the mix all the time. All domestic cricket players are included in the group. I mean, I don’t make contract decisions, right? The board and selectors make decisions regarding contracts. I’m not even aware of the requirements. I participate because people ask me about the 15, and Rohit and I choose the XI. According to ESPNcricinfo, Dravid stated, “That’s how it works.”
Sometimes, when we make these judgments and have these debates about the 15 or the playing 11, I’m not even sure what the list of contracted players is. It’s simply a matter of them returning and becoming healthy, playing cricket, and pressuring the selectors to choose them once more, he continued. Nobody is gone from the picture or the mix.