Iyer, Kishan lose contracts as BCCI announces annual player retainership

NEW DELHI: Amid the row around their non-participation in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, India internationals Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were excluded from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) central contracts on Wednesday. Cricket's premier administrative body in the country on Wednesday announced the annual retainerships for 2023-24.

In a statement released by the BCCI, it stated that Iyer and Kishan "were not considered for the annual contracts".

"Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations," the BCCI stated.

Earlier, Iyer was ruled out of the quarterfinal of the Ranji Trophy which was held on February 23. Dube, too, was ruled out of the game due to a side strain.

Kishan, however, skipped Ranji Trophy matches recently despite not featuring for the national team.

He was in the Indian squad for the South Africa Test series squad last year but pulled out due to 'personal reasons'. He last played a T20I for India in November last year, sitting out Ranji matches featuring Jharkhand. In the recently announced annual player retainership, the BCCI have not changed their A+ category.

However, Mohammed Siraj, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill have made their way into the A category. "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," it added. Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel have been dropped to the B category. But youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal has booked his place in the B category. "Grade B (5 Athletes) Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal," BCCI added.

Meanwhile, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Rajat Patidar, and a few others are the newcomers in the C category.

"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," it added.

The statement also added that Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan would be added to the C category if they play in the 5th Test match against England.

"Additionally, athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis. For instance, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, having played 2 Test matches so far, will be inducted into Grade C if they participate in the Dharamsala Test Match, i.e., the 5th Test of the ongoing series against England," it added. "The Selection Committee has also recommended Fast Bowling contracts for the following athletes - Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa," it further added.

In the end, the apex body of Indian cricket also asked the cricketers to participate in domestic cricket when they are not playing not representing India.

"The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team," it concluded. Earlier in February, the BCCI announced that all contracted players must participate in the next round of Ranji Trophy matches.

The decision is intended to encourage discipline and emphasize the importance of domestic cricket, the top governing body of cricket in the country said, explaining the rationale behind the decision.