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The ongoing Test series between India and England has captured the attention of cricket fans in the country. India wrapped up a convincing series win on Monday in Ranchi, taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-matchs series.
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On Wednesday, there was a significant announcement made by the BCCI, regarding the list of centrally contracted players for the 2023/24 season. Notably, India players Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not given contracts.
While the reason for their exclusion was not formally revealed by the board, the decision comes on the back of the cricketing body claiming there would be ‘serious consequences’ for players who did not take domestic cricket seriously.
Irfan Pathan wants BCCI to take a reality check
It has been speculated that both players lost their central contracts as they did not take part in the Ranji Trophy when they were not part of the national squad. Shreyas Iyer, however, is set to take part in Mumbai’s upcoming semifinal against Tamil Nadu.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his thoughts on the matter, appearing to question why this rule applied only to red-ball cricket.
They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. 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…
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 29, 2024
Pathan took the case of all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who has been handed a Grade A contract (INR 5 crore per annum) in the latest list. Pandya has not played Test cricket since 2018, owing to a number of injuries. It has also been agreed that to manage his workload, he will play only white-ball formats for the country. As a result, he is not required to play the Ranji Trophy.
However, the Baroda all-rounder has not made himself available for either of India’s premier one-day domestic tournaments, the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Pathan urged the BCCI to extend its policy of prioritising domestic cricket to these formats as well, instead of limiting it to the red-ball format.
Currently undergoing the rehabilitation phase of his recovery from an injury suffered in the 2023 World Cup, Pandya returned to action in the DY Patil T20 tournament, a corporate tournament in Mumbai.
