The BCCI has taken action against erring players who were taking their duties lightly and ignoring instructions. The two players against whom the BCCI decided to deal sternly are Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. Both of them have been excluded from the list of centrally contracted players when the BCCI announced the list recently.
Last season Shreyas Iyer was in the Grade B contract list while Ishan Kishan had a Grade C contract. A BCCI statement read: “Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations. 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 is learnt that the duo took the commands lightly and decided to keep them fresh for the IPL season which is to begin from March 22. While the IPL has benefitted the game as well as the players immensely, there is always the risk that some players will give preference to the IPL rather than the honour of representing the state or country. This is what the BCCI aims to discourage.
Cheteshwar Pujara, Yuzi Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan have also been left out of the list due to different reasons.
Question arises about Hardik Pandya
However, the question that arises from this situation is: Why was Hardik Pandya not penalised too? Long ago, Hardik had told the BCCI that his body could not handle the rigours of red-ball cricket and has been kept away since then. But Irfan Pathan commented that the same rule should apply to all players otherwise this action is meaningless.
Hardik underwent surgery in 2020 but two years later he returned to the IPL and led Gujarat Titans to victory. The BCCI, after obtaining a medical opinion, became aware that his body could not stand the strain of excessive cricket. So it does not want to impose red-ball on top of the white-ball game on him. Perhaps that could be the reason why the BCCI has taken a lenient view of Hardik.
Nevertheless, this case needs closer scrutiny and opinions of experts and players should be sought about the Hardik issue. Transparency must be maintained in all such cases.
Kirti Azad’s view
Former Test cricketer and Member of Parliament, Kirti Azad has raised the same issue about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. They should be compelled to play in the Ranji Trophy whenever they are not in action for the Indian team. The same rule should apply to all players irrespective of their stature in the game, he said.
Contract amounts
Being excluded from the central contract of the BCCI will leave the players with a huge dent in their financial earnings. Although this year the BCCI has not mentioned the remuneration of the players, till last year the payment for the topmost category (A+ grade) was Rs 7 crores, For Grade A it was Rs 5 crores, For Grade B, Rs 3 crores and Rs 1 crore for grade C. This payment was made on top of the match fees that the players may earn for playing in different levels of matches.
The players in the topmost Grade A+ category are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. In the A grade are Ravi Ashwin, Md. Shami, Md. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya. In Grade B are Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishab Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal. In Grade C are Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar and Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, K S Bharat, Prasiddh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Paidar..
The annual contracts for the ongoing 2023-2024 season will be effective from October 1 last year to September 30, this year. Players who feature in a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within this period will be automatically included in the Grade C category.
New category for fast bowlers
The BCCI’s committee has also recommended a new category, namely Fast Bowling contracts, in which Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa have been included.
Strong signal
But the exclusion of Shreyas Iyer Ishan Kishan has sent a strong signal to all cricketers in India. The instructions are clear. Put your state and country before your IPL club. If you are not playing for the nation, then take part in the Ranji trophy. Do not merely waste time and wait for the IPL to earn money.
Any player, who is guilty of ignoring these directives, must face the consequences of being excluded from the BCCI’s contract schemes. Ultimately that will also reflect on their future career prospects. It is hoped that all players have understood that they must follow instructions in a disciplined manner.
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