Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer likely to lose central contracts

New Delhi: Indian batters Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are likely to be excluded from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) central contract over their absence from Ranji Trophy.

Iyer has a Grade B BCCI contract whereas Kishan holds a Grade C contract.

Earlier, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had warned the centrally-contracted and India ‘A’ cricketers over non-participation in domestic cricket, citing that a move like that from them to prioritise IPL over domestic cricket, would have severe implications.

According to a Times of India report, the selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, have completed the list of centrally contracted players for the 2023-24 season, which the BCCI will unveil shortly. Kishan and Iyer are expected to be omitted from this list owing to their lack of participation in domestic cricket.

Kishan last played for India in the T20I series against Australia in November before he pulled out of the South Africa tour at the turn of the year for personal reasons. In the meantime, he has chosen not to compete in the Ranji Trophy for Jharkhand and reportedly engaged in training sessions in Baroda alongside Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya.

Iyer, who was dropped from India’s squad for the last three Tests against England, had opted out of Mumbai’s upcoming Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Baroda, started on Friday, citing a back pain.

However, according to reports the head of sports science and medicine at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, confirmed in an email to selectors, that Iyer has ‘no fresh injury’ and that he was ‘fit’.