Multi-format India players Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been surrounded by a huge controversy as they have been excluded from the latest BCCI central contracts due to not turning up for the last round of Ranji Trophy matches despite the board asking them to.
The BCCI in its statement said that “Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations.” It added, “The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.”
While Kishan has been on a break since December, Shreyas Iyer has played cricket regularly including a Ranji game for Mumbai ahead of the Tests against England. He was dropped from the squad after the second Test.
According to a report in the Indian Express, Iyer complained of back pain and cited it as the reason for skipping the last league round Ranji game, but the NCA reportedly denied that claim of the middle-order batsman. A major media house claimed that in this time, Iyer was spotted at pre-IPL camp with Kolkata Knight Riders, his IPL franchise.
It has emerged that Iyer, who had a back surgery last year, played in the World Cup 2023 with painkillers for recurring back pain.
According to a report in Revsportz, Iyer made a visit to the KKR Academy to work on his batting. The report said, “After playing 60 balls in a session, his back was building spasms. He had to build up his resistance. Now he is playing 200 balls per session.
Mumbai Cricket Association and the Mumbai team head coach, Omkar Salvi, have reportedly known of this development.
Shreyas Iyer underwent surgery to play in the World Cup 2023
Iyer missed IPL 2023 to be fit in time for the World Cup. In the tournament, he scored 468 runs with two centuries, including one in the semi-final against New Zealand.
The RevSportz report added, “He skipped the IPL to play the World Cup. Even after the surgery, he took three painkiller injections to be pain-free for the World Cup. And yet, the pain returned during the semi-final and the final, and he played through it. Iyer was the only player who wasn’t given a break after the World Cup. He played the home T20I series against Australia and then went to South Africa. After returning from South Africa, he was asked to play a Ranji game in January, ahead of the first two Tests against England. He did that. Doesn’t a player have the liberty to train under a coach of his choice?”
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