BCCI Central Contracts Takeaways: Shreyas Iyer's omission, Hardik Pandya's Grade A contract raise eyebrows

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) annual central contracts list for 2023-24 season (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024) on face value tells you players who are top priority for Team India and part of their grand scheme of things, but it also sends other major hints and messages about Indian cricket and its star players. The annual retainers list for 2023-24 in that aspect contains some stern messages which also indicates the future path for Indian cricket.

We take a look at the biggest takeaways from BCCI central contracts list for 2023-24 and the hidden messages:

BCCI prioritises red-ball cricket

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer irked BCCI by skipping Ranji Trophy matches despite being fit and not part of Team India. This led to BCCI general secretary Jay Shah ordering the players to make themselves available for red-ball cricket, but once Kishan and Iyer failed to pay heed to Shah’s advice, BCCI decided to axe them from the central contracts list.

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BCCI was extremely clear in their communication that Kishan and Iyer were not considered for contracts.

“Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” BCCI’s statement read.

Timeline:  What led to Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer losing BCCI contracts

More importantly BCCI also shared that India cricketers will have to prioritise domestic cricket when out of Team India.

“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.”

It’s seen as a move to ensure a quality talent pool in the domestic cricket and stop players from skipping Ranji Trophy for IPL.

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Shreyas Iyer’s omission still boggles mind

Despite the fact that Shreyas Iyer didn’t make himself available for Mumbai Ranji team after he was dropped from Team India following the second Test against England, it still feels shocking that the 29-year-old cricketer has been dropped from contracts list completely. Unlike Ishan Kishan, Iyer had been a regular feature for Indian team across formats before he lost his place in Test squad due to poor form. In the ODI World Cup 2023, he was India’s third-highest run-getter with 530 runs from 11 matches as Men in Blue reached the final. In fact he was only 67 runs behind tournament’s second highest run-getter - Rohit Sharma.

While Iyer faces intense competition in T20Is, he was preferred No. 5 batter in Tests until he hit a prolonged patch of poor form.

There are also reports that Iyer was suffering with back spasms which made him unavailable for Ranji matches amid news that NCA had cleared him of any issues. In any case, Iyer has made himself available for Ranji Trophy semi-finals and is a batter in his prime.

Missing Ranji Trophy matches is a similarity that Iyer shares with Kishan, but his situation is a lot different. First of all, after BCCI’s diktat, he made himself available for semi-final, unlike Ishan Kishan who stayed away from red-ball cricket and made his return recently in DY Patil T20 Tournament.

Iyer was in Grade B in annual player retainership list for 2022-23. He probably could have been demoted to Grade C but his complete removal is baffling and probably there’s more to this than what meets the eyes.

Non-contracted players also considered

To encourage non-contracted players and motivate them for red-ball and international cricket, BCCI has also said that any player who meets the criteria of playing in “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.

This means players Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel who have already played two Tests since making their debuts this month will earn Grade C contracts if they play for India against England in Dharamsala Test.

Hardik Pandya gets Grade A contract?

All-rounder Hardik Pandya has not played for India since getting injured in the ODI World Cup 2023. He last played Test cricket in 2018 and doesn’t feature in Ranji Trophy anymore or domestic cricket for that matter, but he has been awarded a Grade A contract by BCCI!

The remaining players in Grade A category are - R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill. All of these are all format players and are constantly with Team India which is why they have been rated so highly from BCCI, but Pandya sneaking into Grade A category despite spending majority of time on the sidelines or outside Team India even when he is fit doesn’t sit right.

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

BCCI aims to create pace bowling pool

India’s fast-bowling reserves are apparently not as wide as it was felt. Mohammed Shami’s ankle injury, for which he underwent surgery recently, and workload management for Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj has exposed the lack of options. In the absence of Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep have been given debuts with only the latter impressing so far.

It’s an alarming situation and BCCI is well aware of this and is ready to offer fast bowling contracts to young pacers like Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa. Such a contract will ensure financial security for pacers and allow them to manage their workload in a proper way in order to keep them fit and ready for Team India assignments.

End of the road for Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane?

Some of the other names who were dropped from contracts list are Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. It’s an indication that these players are largely not part of selectors’ plans. Ajinkya Rahane was not part of BCCI contracts 2022-23 and continues to be out of favour.