Star players Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were on Wednesday excluded from the annual player retainership list for the 2023-24 season, with the BCCI saying in a statement that the two were not considered for the annual contracts. The ouster came as a massive jolt to the two players who were under the scanner of the BCCI of late. Not being in the central contracts list simply means that the two players would not be getting the annual fee from BCCI, however, this is not the only loss they will have to go through.
In the 2022-23 central contracts of the BCCI, Iyer was in Grade B while Kishan was placed in Grade C. While Iyer received an annual fee of Rs 3 crore besides his match fees, Kishan got Rs 1 crore.
Apart from the monetary loss, the two players will not make be able to use the BCCI facilities like the National Cricket Academy (NCA) if needed as they are not part of the central contracts. They could avail the NCA services only after getting a nod from their respective state boards.
It is worth noting that BCCI's centrally contracted players also get insurance cover. In any case, if a player fails to be available for his Indian Premier League team due to an injury he suffered while on national duty, it is the board that compensates for the financial loss. Iyer and Kishan also miss out on this.
Being away from the central contracts keeps the players out of the main fray. This, in turn, makes their recognition tough, which could lead to further difficulty in making it to the national team. Iyer and Kishan could also face this problem.
So, what caused the axing? After Ishan Kishan took a break from the national duties, midway into India's Tour of South Africa in January, Indian cricket team coach Rahul Dravid mentioned he needs to play domestic cricket or any other form of cricket to make a comeback. Though the Ranji Trophy was going on, Ishan Kishan missed his state team Jharkhand's matches. He even started training with his IPL captain Hardik Pandya. A video of them went viral.
Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, made himself unavailable for a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai citing injury. However, the NCA's report on him was contradictory. The star India batter had been battling poor form in Tests of late and was dropped after the first two matches against England.
According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, the BCCI selectors, who recommend the BCCI on which players will get the central contract, were unhappy over Kishan training with Pandya during break while Iyer attended a pre-IPL camp with Kolkata Knight Riders when he missed a match for Mumbai.