Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team, recently made some bold remarks on the exclusion of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the BCCI’s central contract.
Rohit Sharma underlined the importance of players engaging in domestic tournaments when not donning the national colors, addressing the ongoing debate surrounding young cricketers’ preference for the Indian Premier League (IPL) over domestic cricket. Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, Ishan Kishan opted to train with the Pandya brothers at the Kiran More Academy in Baroda.
In the recently released central contracts list for 2023-24 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), notable exclusions included Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, despite their consistent presence in the Indian national team in recent months.
During the pre-match press conference before the fifth Test against England, Rohit Sharma emphasized the value of domestic cricket, asserting that players should actively participate unless there are genuine medical reasons to abstain.
“Players need to play domestic cricket unless their medical team has given a certificate. It is important. It is for everyone. I saw the Mumbai vs TN game. It’s crucial to give importance to domestic cricket which is the core of Indian cricket,” Rohit said.
Ishan Kishan hasn’t been seen in the national team since he decided to step back from the Test series against South Africa due to feeling mentally drained. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer was with India’s squad for the first two Tests of the current home series against England. However, he got dropped from the squad for the remaining three matches because of his poor performances in the format.
Last year, Shreyas held a Grade B contract, while Kishan was categorized as Grade C. Both players were part of the Indian squad that made it to the 2023 World Cup final. Shreyas recently played in Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy semifinal match after missing their quarter-final game.
The upcoming fifth Test between India and England is set to take place at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, commencing on Thursday, March 7. With India securing the series win, the Ben Stokes-led team is eager to conclude on a positive note by clinching a victory in the final match.
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