 "Rahul Dravid said Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are still in contention for Team India. PTI")
India coach Rahul Dravid clarified on Saturday that the team management had nothing do with BCCI’s decision to drop Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer form the central contracts. Taking a big step, BCCI axed Kishan and Iyer from its annual retainership contracts for the 2023-24 season in February after they ignored the board’s diktat to feature in Ranji Trophy matches.
Dravid said that the decision wasn’t made by him and added that both players are still in contention despite losing their contracts.
“I don’t decide contracts or discuss that. I don’t even know what the criteria is. Both are in the mix and hope they play cricket, stay fit and force the selectors to pick them. No one is out of contention, players without contracts have also played,” Dravid said in the post-match press conference after India defeat England at Dharamsala to clinch a 4-1 Test series win.
“Rohit and I select playing 11. Sometimes even I don’t know who is contracted and who is not. No one is out of the mix.”
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Dravid also threw his weight behind Shardul Thakur’s plea to have larger gaps between matches in Ranji Trophy to allow players to recover and rest well. The ongoing season of Ranji Trophy witnessed largely three-day gaps between the matches.
“We need to hear the players. They are the ones putting bodies on the line. If they are saying, we need to see how to manage domestic schedule better,” Dravid said.