Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan will be awarded BCCI central contract if they fulfil criteria of required matches: Report

The duo of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were recently discarded from the BCCI central contracts list for the 2023-24 season, and while it will come as a blow for both the players, there is still a chance that they still be awarded a contract. Iyer and Kishan had been omitted from the BCCI contracts list following their decision to skip their respective Ranji Trophy matches despite being fit. The BCCI had recently recommended that athletes give precedence to domestic cricket while not turning up for Team India.

There’s the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 coming up, which means both Iyer and Kishan will get enough opportunities to rediscover their form. And should they do that, and play the minimum number of matches needed for a pro-rata contract, the duo will receive a contract.

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“The selectors don’t doubt their ability,” ESPNCricinfo reported a BCCI official as saying. “But if the NCA is saying you are fit and you are not making yourself available for the Test series, how can the BCCI offer you a contract?

“After the IPL, if they happen to get selected and fulfil the criteria of the number of matches required for a pro-rata contract, they will be awarded a contract,” added the official.

According to ESPNCricinfo, the selectors were not happy with Ishan Kishan refusing game time and training with Hardik Pandya in Baroda. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, took part in Kolkata Knight Riders’ pre-season camp instead of turning up for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy.

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Kishan had taken a break due to personal reasons during India’s tour of South Africa, and only returned this week turning up for RBI in a DY Patil T20 tournament in Mumbai. Shreyas Iyer, meanwhile, is playing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy semifinal against Tamil Nadu that started on Saturday.

Kishan last played for India in a T20I against Australia last November, whereas Iyer had a miserable run in the first two Tests against England recently, scoring just 104 runs from the two Tests.