Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev has welcomed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decision to terminate the central contracts of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan after the duo ignored instructions to participate in the Ranji Trophy. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri extended support to Iyer and Kishan, backing the duo to return stronger, while 1983 World Cup winner Kirti Azad (Kirti Azad) urged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to perform well in the domestic arena.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar expressed sympathy for Iyer but questioned Kishan’s absence from domestic cricket. After the BCCI contract saga, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan chose to discuss the strange case of Hardik Pandya. Ever since the Supreme Council of Cricket in India announced the list of 30 contract players for the 2023-24 season, there has been a lot of buzz. As the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season approaches, various opinions are floating around and former India pacer Praveen Kumar has also shared his honest thoughts on Iyer and Kishan losing their BCCI contracts.
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‘Make money, who stops you?’: Praveen on Iyer and Kishan
“Making money, who does it? You should make money, but it shouldn’t happen in this way: you don’t play domestically, you don’t value the country.. (Make money, who stops you? But it shouldn’t be the same as if you don’t play for the country or domestic cricket),” Praveen told times of india. Iyer was one of India’s star players in last year’s ICC World Cup but he still failed to retain his Grande B contract for the 2023-2024 season.
Can Iyer and Kishan make a comeback?
The out-of-form batsman was dropped from the Indian team during the Test series in England. Iyer was ruled out of the quarter-finals against Baroda but he also failed to make a successful return to the Ranji Trophy. Top-order batsman Iyer was forgetful in his performance against Tamil Nadu in the semi-finals of the prestigious tournament. Iyer’s teammate Kishan was offered a C-grade contract last year. However. Kishan opted to take a break from cricket when India toured South Africa. Kishan then made his return to the DY Patil T20 Cup a few weeks ahead of the 2024 IPL.
“Take a month off and then play IPL”
“This matter is now firmly etched in the minds of the players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest karunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chhorun (I will take a month off before IPL , and then play the game. This happens because you are not mentally willing to give up that much money). But it is not fair at all. Players need to balance things. Money is important, but this (prioritizes cricket franchises ) is wrong,” added former pacer Praveen.
