Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Could Get Their BCCI Contracts Cancelled Over Ranji Trophy Absence - Report

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer's absence from the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament could have significant repercussions for them. According to sources, both players may face the loss of their central contracts when the BCCI announces its upcoming list.

"The selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, has almost finalised the list of centrally contracted players for the 2023-24 season too, which the BCCI will announce soon. Kishan and Iyer are likely to be excluded from that list, as both haven't been playing domestic cricket despite the BCCI's diktat to do so," a source told TOI. (SRK Teaches His Iconic DDLJ Dialogue, Poses To MI-W's Issy Wong, Meg Lanning - WATCH)

Since returning from the India tour of South Africa in December-January, Ishan Kishan has been on an extended break citing "personal reasons." Despite practicing with his Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda, Kishan has not represented Jharkhand in the ongoing Ranji Trophy. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer was notably absent from Mumbai's final Ranji Trophy league match against Assam at BKC and will also miss the upcoming quarter-final against Baroda.

Iyer had initially informed the Mumbai Cricket Association of his unavailability due to back spasms. However, an email from Nitin Patel, the head of sports science and medicine at the National Cricket Academy, to the BCCI and national selectors stated that Iyer was deemed 'fit'.

However, a source close to Iyer mentioned that the batsman was "excluded from India's squad for the last three Tests as a precautionary measure, after he complained of a back problem."

"Patel's email to the BCCI was written after the second Test against England. Since then, a back problem has bothered Iyer," the source said. (IPL 2024: Janhvi Kapoor's Favourite Cricketers Are These 2 RCB Players)

"Iyer was one of India's top performing batsmen in the ODI World Cup in India last year. He won't lose the contract just because he missed the odd Ranji match," he insisted.

Last week, BCCI secretary Jay Shah issued a stern warning to centrally contracted and India A cricketers, stating that their absence from the ongoing Ranji Trophy would not be accepted. Shah emphasized that chief selector Ajit Agarkar would have full authority in addressing this matter.