BCCI terminates Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer's contracts, announces full list

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) on Wednesday, February 28 announced the annual retainership for the senior men's team cricketers for the 2023-24 cycle. In a big move, the national body removed Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the annual retaindership contract list despite both of them featuring in India's ODI World Cup campaign last year.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravinra Jadeja were retained in the top bracket (A+) as 30 players were included in the central contracts list. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been removed from the annual retainership contract after they missed the majority of the ongoing domestic cricket season despite directives from the board and its secretary Jay Shah.

While Ishan Kishan was in Grade C, Shreyas Iyer was in Grade B of the retainership contracts for the 2022-23 season.

"Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations," the BCCI said in a statement, adding that the board has directed the players to "give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team".

PROMOTION FOR RAHUL AND SHUBMAN

KL Rahul and Shubman Gill earned promotions while Hardik Pandya retained his name in the Grade A bracket despite not having been available for selection in Test cricket. Hardik led India in 11 matches in T20I cricket in 2023 and was looked as Rohit Sharma's successor. However, an injury during the World Cup and subsequent lay-off has pushed him down the pecking order.

Suryakumar Yadav, who led India in 8 T20Is in 2023-24, retains his place in Grade B.

The hero of India's series win over England, Yashasvi Jaiswal, makes his debut and he has been handed Grade B straightaway. Cricketers who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis.

BCCI CONTRACTS FOR 2023-24: FULL LIST

Grade A+ (4 Athletes)

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

Grade A (6 Athletes)

R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.

Grade B (5 Athletes)

Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Grade C (15 Athletes)

Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.

WHY HAVE ISHAN KISHAN AND SHREYAS IYER BEEN LEFT OUT?

Reading between the lines in the BCCI release on Wednesday, it's clear that both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer have been left out due to their reluctance to play domestic red-ball competition, the Ranji Trophy.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah had written a letter to all contracted players, stressing the importance of playing Ranji Trophy and other domestic competitions to be in the fray for selection.

Ishan Kishan has not played for India since he pulled out of the Test series in South Africa after requesting break from the team management. Head coach Rahul Dravid was irked when he was, time and again, asked about Ishan's absence from the senior national team during the Test series against England.

"There is a way back for anyone and everyone. It's not that we rule out anybody from anything," Rahul Dravid after the 2nd Test in Vizag.

"Again, I just don't want to go on laboring about the Ishan Kishan point. I have tried to explain this as best as I can. He had requested a break, we were happy to give him a break.

"Whenever he is ready, I didn't say he has to play domestic cricket, I said whenever he is ready... he needs to play some cricket and come back. The choice is his. We are not forcing him to do anything. We are in touch with him."

Rahul Dravid explained that the team management can't force anyone to play domestic, but stressed that Ishan has to play competitive cricket before thinking of returning to the senior national side.

On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer was dropped from the squad for the last 3 Tests against England. While it was reported that Iyer's back injury issue had resurfaced, it now seems clear that the team management was not happy with the Kolkata Knight Riders captain.

Notably, Shreyas Iyer has been included in the Mumbai squad for the upcoming Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu in Mumbai.