Indian Cricket Board releases central contract for 2024, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan left out

The Indian Cricket Board released its list of annual players retainers for the calendar year 2024. As per the norm, the players are in four different types of Grades as per their appearances in different formats. The topmost of them is Grade A+ which features some top players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.

In Grade A, the likes of Mohammed Shami, R Ashwin, Mohammad Siraj, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya are grouped. In Grade B, the likes of Rishabh Pant, Surya Kumar Yadav, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Yashasvi Jaiswal are grouped. the list also has some of the players who are suggested to be included in the main contract by the selection committee.

The Indian Cricket Board took to X and released a series of tweets to confirm the same. “The Selection Committee has also recommended Fast Bowling contracts for the following athletes – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa,” wrote the Indian Cricket Board in their account on X.

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer snubbed

Grade C has the likes of Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Tilak Verma, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur, Jitesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Sanju Samson, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, KS Bharat, and Rajat Patidar. There is also Grade C which includes some of the single-format players in recent times.

While some of the choices are arguable, a huge step has rattled the fans. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who recently showed their disinterest in taking part in the Ranji Trophy matches, have been excluded from the central contract. It has raised the eyebrows of the fans, who have questioned the motive of the board.

While Kishan last played the series against South Africa in the shorter format, Iyer was ‘injured’ after the second Test of the ongoing series against England. Their snub has raised questions among the fans who claim that the board does not value its players. The reaction of the individuals would be interesting to see.