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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has dropped Indian batter Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan from the Indian men's team's Annual Player Contracts. The BCCI announced the annual retainers for the 2023-24 season on Wednesday and star players like KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj, and Shubman Gill were promoted from Grade B to A while Grade A+ consists of four players.
Both Iyer and Kishan have taken some time off cricket as the former missed Mumbai's final Ranji Trophy league match and their quarter-final against Baroda while the wicketkeeper-batter has been on an extended break, citing personal reasons.
Last week, BCCI secretary Jay Shah made himself clear why participation in the ongoing Ranji Trophy is necessary for aspiring Indian cricketers and they must prove themselves in the domestic circuit first. Shah also warned Indian cricketers that non-participation in the domestic leagues could have severe implications.
The BCCI in its press release stated that "Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations." This came after a lack of commitment from Iyer and Kishan in the longest format of cricket.
Annual Player Contracts for Team India
- 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.
