EXCLUSIVE – ‘Of course BCCI has their reasons’, Varun Aaron On Iyer, Kishan’s Central Contract Snub
BCCI’s shocking decision not to retain Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan in their central contract list is creating a stir
New Delhi: The Board of Control of Cricket in India’s decision not to employ star players like Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan has created a stir across the board. There were a lot of rumors about this in the past few days and they were proven right when BCCI announced its annual contracts for the senior men’s team for the season that runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.
The BCCI said in a statement that Shreyas and Ishan, who were in grades B and C respectively in the last central contracts list, were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations. The board also stated that all players should be given priority to participate in domestic cricket while not representing the national team.
India.com asked Varun Aaron in an exclusive conversation about BCCI’s decision not to include Iyer and Kishan in the central contract list. The veteran pacer suggested not to speculate unnecessarily on the issue as the board must have its own reason for not renewing the players’ contract, just like Iyer and Kishan must have a good reason for avoiding domestic cricket.
“I’ve been in the system and it’s a very internal thing. If Shreyas and Ishan weren’t playing domestic cricket, I’m sure they would have had their reasons, and the reason why BCCI didn’t renew their contracts, I’m sure BCCI has their reasons too. So this is something that is very internal. It is between the BCCI and the two players. So all we can do from outside is speculate and I don’t think it is good to speculate on these kinds of things,” Varun Aaron told India.com.
Ishan Kishan has been out of action since his withdrawal from the Indian Test squad for the South Africa series last year due to personal reasons. It was reported that he was training in Baroda but he missed the entire Ranji Trophy season for Jharkhand. Recently, the wicketkeeper-batsman returned to cricket action during the ongoing DY Patil T20 tournament held in Navi Mumbai.
On the contrary, Iyer was not included in the Indian Test squad for the last three Tests against England. He also missed the Ranji Trophy quarter-final in Mumbai against Baroda due to back problems. However, he has been included in the squad for the semi-final against Tamil Nadu at the BKC Ground on March 2.
Besides Shreyas and Ishan, BCCI has also not retained Cheteshwar Pujara, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Deepak Hooda and Yuzvendra Chahal in the central contract list. Meanwhile, the Grade A+ list is unchanged and includes four players with captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, just like last year.