While the focus has been on the Test series between India and England in India this month, a lot of time has also been spent on players competing in domestic competitions when not part of the national squad.
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Last week, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in no uncertain terms that Indian players not involved with the national squad or rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru would need to play domestic cricket, or face a risk of serious consequences.
Many saw this as a warning to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, who withdrew from the India squad in December citing mental health reasons, but has not played any domestic cricket since.
Will Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan lose their BCCI contracts?
According to the Times of India, Kishan, as well as Mumbai batter Shreyas Iyer could be at risk of losing their central contracts with the BCCI. Iyer was released from the India squad after the second Test against England, despite being declared fit by the medical team but has not made himself available for the ongoing Ranji Trophy, citing injury as a reason.
In the early 60s a Bombay opener Sudhakar Adhikari tied a knot 90 minutes before the imp Ranji trophy game, rushed to Brabourne stadium, scored a hundred & returned for the reception in the evening. Sad to hear young Bombay players are now avoiding to play Ranji trophy matches.
— Makarand Waingankar (@wmakarand) February 22, 2024
The report does say that Iyer may not be as much in danger of losing his contract as Kishan, who has reportedly gotten on the bad side of the team management after not playing for Jharkhand, and practicing in Baroda with his IPL skipper, Hardik Pandya.
The BCCI has apparently already finalised the list of central contracts for the 2023/24 season, which is set to be announced soon. Last year, the announcement came on March 26.
Which Indian players are playing in the Ranji Trophy?
Across the four contract grades (A+, A, B, C), the BCCI had a total of 26 contracted players in 2022/23. Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya have all been involved in injury recovery at various points.
In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Cheteshwar Pujara and Umesh Yadav have featured prominently for Saurashtra and Vidarbha, despite the Indian Test team seemingly moving on from them. All-rounders Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar have also been in action for Mumbai and Tamil Nadu respectively, while Sanju Samson has been captaining Kerala.
Apart from Kishan and Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and Arshdeep Singh have not played in the Ranji Trophy this year either. However, these two are not currently in the scheme of things for the Indian red-ball team.
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