'Forcefully You Can't Do Anything': India Star On Ishan Kishan-Shreyas Iyer Contract Row

Veteran India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha on Thursday said nothing can be done 'forcefully' if a cricketer does not want to play domestic cricket, while adding that it is the base and every player should value it enough to prosper. Saha's reaction came after Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were on Wednesday excluded from the annual player retainership list for the 2023-24 season, with the BCCI saying in a statement that the two cricketers 'were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations'. "That is BCCI's decision and personal decision of concerned players. Forcefully, you can't do anything," the stumper said about Kishan and Iyer's axe.

These two players were part of the Indian side until very recently, having also featured in the 50-overs World Cup last year. While Kishan was last part of the Test squad during India's Tour of South Africa in December, Iyer played the first two Tests of the ongoing series against England.

Saha said a cricketer should treat every match with equal importance citing his own example.

"Whenever I am fit I play, even I played club matches, office matches as well. I always treat a match as a match. All matches are equal for me. If every player thinks on those lines, they will only prosper in their career and it will be better for Indian cricket as well," he said.

"I feel the importance of domestic cricket is always there because if I talk about Sarfaraz Khan, he had scored plenty of runs in the last 4-5 years. Definitely, he has delivered." Saha, meanwhile, termed the young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel's batting as 'outstanding'. Jurel scored a gritty 46 on Test debut in the third Test and followed it up with scores of 90 and 39 in the fourth Test at Ranchi,