File photo of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan© Twitter
One of the biggest talking points in Indian cricket these days is players missing domestic cricket. BCCI Secretary Jay Shah recenty made it clear that all centrally contracted cricketers, who are not with the national team, will have to mandatorily play red-ball cricket in the domestic circuit and the management will not tolerate any kind of excuses in the matter. The statement came amidst the controversy surrounding Ishan Kishan and reports that suggest that BCCI has asked him to play for Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy.
Shah mentioned Kishan during the interaction but quickly added that the announcement was not targeted towards him and this rule will apply for all cricketers who are not part of the national team.
“All contracted players have been told on phone and I’ll be writing to them too. If chairman of selectors, coach & captain want you to play red-ball cricket then you gotta play. ‘Nakhre Nahi Chalenge’ (no tantrums). And as far as Ishan Kishan is concerned, he is young, I am not saying this specifically about him as it will be applicable for all the players uniformly,” Jay Shah told reporters.
“Everyone will have to play, otherwise, the chairman of the selection committee has given me his suggestions and I am going to give him a free hand to let him take his own calls freely.”
In the midst of this, on Thursday came a report by Indian Express about Shreyas Iyer making himself unavailable for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinals citing injury concerns but the National Cricket Academy (NCA) has said that he has no ‘fresh injuries’. The report cited an email from Nitin Patel, the head of sports science and medicine at the NCA, who told selectors that Iyer was ‘fit’. It also quoted Mumbai Cricket Association sources saying that Iyer had cited back pain as the reason behind missing the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal match against Baroda which will begin on Friday.
“Shreyas Iyer was fit and available for selection as per the handover report of the Indian team after the 2nd Test match against England. There are currently no fresh injuries reported as well after his departure from Team India,” Patel wrote in his email according to the report.
Now, Irfan Pathan posted an intersting comment on X on Thursday. “Is there a different rules for different players for not playing Indian first class cricket in the name of looking after the body?” Irfan Pathan wrote.
Is there a different rules for different players for not playing Indian first class cricket in the name of looking after the body?
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 22, 2024
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