CRICKET NEWS: BCCI Announce Central Contract List for 2023-24; Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Yuzvendra Chahal omitted!
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced annual player retainers for 2023-24 on Monday, 26th February 2023. A total of 30 players were handed central contracts by the governing body based on four categories, as opposed to 26 players last year.
However, the talking point last week was the controversial decision to not include star cricketers Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan in the list of annual retainerships. The axing of ace leggie Yuzvendra Chahal also raised quite a few eyebrows.
Marquee Indian cricketers Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja retained their A+ grade contract (INR 7 crores).
Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Hardik Pandya were included in the 'A' Grade category (INR 5 crores).
Grade 'B' (INR 3 crores) saw the inclusion of Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Interesting to note that Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel dropped down a grade this year, while Rahul, Gill and Siraj were handed a promotion from Grade B to A.
The likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Mukesh Kumar, Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma were handed maiden central contracts in Grade 'C' (INR 1 crore).
https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1762815473224176084The Selection Committee has also recommended Fast Bowling contracts for the following athletes – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.#TeamIndia
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 28, 2024
Veterans Umesh Yadav and Shikhar Dhawan also failed to find a slot in the list of players with central contracts this season. Injury-prone Deepak Chahar, along with out of favour Deepak Hooda were not handed a contract either.
The curious case of Ishan and Iyer
"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 board said in a press release.
Both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer proved to be a vital cog in the Indian white-ball circuit over the past few seasons. The two were part of India’s campaign in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home which ended in a heartbreaking defeat in the final at Ahmedabad.
Iyer went on to score over 500 runs in his debut World Cup tournament, which included a century in the semi-final at Mumbai. However, Kishan was slotted in as the backup opener and only found a place in the side after illness to Shubman Gill.
During the South African tour earlier this year, the dynamic wicketkeeper batter pulled out midway citing mental fatigue. It is reported that selectors got in touch with Kishan before the ongoing India-England Test series. Head coach Rahul Dravid insisted on the stumper to play domestic cricket before contention for the high-profile Test series.
https://twitter.com/BCCI/status/1762815569907052979
However, Kishan said that he still wasn’t available and ready for selection and did not show up for any of the Ranji Trophy games for Jharkhand this season. Later, Kishan was seen training with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya at Baroda and also participated in the DY Patil T20 tournament.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer took part in the first two Tests against England at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, before complaining of back problems. Surprisingly, the NCA declared the middle-order batter fit for the remainder of the red-ball series.
The selectors then looked beyond the right-hander for the remaining three games and subsequently, Iyer participated in Kolkata Knight Riders’ pre-season camp, opting out of the quarter-final of Ranji Trophy for Mumbai.
Things didn’t sit well with the BCCI and the governing body went on to make an unprecedented decision of not handing out central contracts for the two Indian cricketers.
"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?” a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo.
What’s next for Iyer and Kishan?
In one of the posts on ‘X’, BCCI later defined criteria for Grade C contracts on a pro-rata basis
“Athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis,” the BCCI posted.
This means that Shreyas will be receiving a contract after meeting the criteria during the specified period. On the other hand, the same does not hold good for Kishan.
"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 board said.
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