Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan likely to be excluded from Central Contract List for missing Ranji Tropy matches

The cricketing world is going through a transformative change with the commercialization of cricket and the popularization of the T20 format. Although, the strong cricketing boards have managed to survive the paradigm shift in cricket the trembles of the shift can be felt by these boards too.

The recent fiasco of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan is a prime example of players’ preferences and the rift it can cause between the boards and the players. According to a recent report by the Times of India, the Indian Cricket Board could exclude Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the Central Contract list for disregarding their diktat of playing in the Ranji Trophy.

According to the report by the Times, a source close to the Indian Cricket Board has revealed that the Indian Cricket Board is unhappy with both players for not participating in the Ranji matches for their respective domestic teams. It has also been reported that the final list of the contract for the 2024-25 season has been finalized by Ajit Agarkar which will be announced soon.

The report as quoted by the Indian Cricket Board said, “The selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, has almost finalized the list of centrally contracted players for the 2023-24 season too, which the Indian Cricket Board will announce soon.

“Kishan and Iyer are likely to be excluded from that list, as both haven’t been playing domestic cricket despite the Indian Cricket Board’s diktat to do so.”

Contradicting reports on Shreyas Iyer

However, there were contradicting statements in the article on Shreyas Iyer where the article also quoted a source close to Shreyas Iyer which stated that Shreyas Iyer is ruled out from the England series because of back injury and not otherwise. Also, it stated that there is no possibility of him getting dropped for just missing a Ranji Trophy match.

The newspaper quoted a source close to Shreyas Iyer who said “Shreyas Iyer was excluded from India’s squad for the last three Tests as a precautionary measure after he complained of a back problem.”

He further said, “Patel’s email to the Indian Cricket Board was written after the second Test against England. Since then, a back problem has bothered Iyer,” the source said, “Iyer was one of India’s top-performing batsmen in the ODI World Cup in India last year. He won’t lose the contract just because he missed the odd Ranji match.”