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After the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mandated the centrally contracted players to participate in domestic tournaments in order to feature in international assignments, BCCI Secretary, Jay Shah has finally opened up on Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan’s snub. While the two cricketers have been on the receiving end of the board’s fury after Shah had mandated this move, leading them to miss out on the BCCI central contract for 2024-25.
However, after much compulsion, the duo is back featuring in the domestic tournaments in order to feature in national team. Moreover, both the players are also named in the squads for the Duleep Trophy, which is set to commence on September 5 which is a result of Shah’s harsh steps towards the young cricketers.
Speaking to Times of India, Jay Shah said, "If you look Duleep Trophy squad, apart from Rohit and Virat rest are going to play. It's because of the harsh steps I have taken, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan are playing Duleep Trophy.” "We have been little strict. When Ravindra Jadeja had got injured, I was the one who called him and asked him to play a domestic game. It's certain now, whoever gets injured and goes out, can only come into the Indian team after proving his fitness in domestic cricket," he added.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah rested for Duleep Trophy 2024-25
On August 14, the BCCI named the squads for the upcoming Duleep Trophy 2024-25. While the tournament will see all the centrally contracted players, except for Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya. Notably, the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah have been allowed to rest as part of workload management.
"It doesn't make sense to add to Virat and Rohit's load by asking them to play domestic cricket. They run the risk of getting injured. You also need to look at England and Australia. None of their top players play domestic cricket. We must treat our players respectfully and not treat them like servants," said the BCCI Secretary.
Team India will now play their next game after a month when they take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, starting September 19.
