Explained: Why Ishan Kishan And Shreyas Iyer Were Axed From BCCI Contract List - A Case Of BCCI Acting Tough?

In the BCCI's Annual Player Contracts for Team India (Senior Men) for the 2023-24 season, two prominent players were missing - Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. Till very recently, the star Indian cricket team duo was part of the side. While Ishan Kishan was last part of the Test squad during India's Tour of South Africa in December, Shreyas Iyer played the first two Tests of the ongoing series against England. Yet, the BCCI removed the two senior player from the contracts list. In fact, the BCCI made it a point to single out the duo's absence with the following line in the list: "Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations.

So why were Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer dropped from BCCI's Annual Player Contracts for Team India (Senior Men) for the 2023-24 season?

Ishan Kishan's case

While there was no official reason given on why Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were dropped, one line in BCCI's release gives a strong hint. "The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team," the BCCI stated.

When Ishan Kishan had left India's Tour of South Africa, the BCCI had said on December 17: "Mr Ishan Kishan has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa citing personal reasons. The wicket-keeper has subsequently been withdrawn from the Test squad."

While it was expected that Ishan Kishan would play domestic cricket from his time away from the national team, the wicketkeeper-batter chose to remain absent from his state team Jharkhand's Ranji Trophy matches. Despite Indian cricket team coach Rahul Dravid