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Legendary Indian cricketer Kapil Dev has welcomed the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) decision to terminate the central contracts of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan after the duo ignored the directive to play the Ranji Trophy. Extending his support to Iyer and Kishan, former Indian coach Ravi Shastri backed the duo to come back stronger, while 1983 World Cup winner Kirti Azad urged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to take part in the domestic area .
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar sympathized with Iyer but questioned Kishan’s absence from domestic cricket. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan chose to talk about the curious case of Hardik Pandya after the BCCI contract saga. A lot has been said since India’s top cricket board released the list of 30 players contracted for the 2023-24 season. With opinions gaining ground in the run-up to the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, former India pacer Praveen Kumar has also shared his honest views on Iyer and Kishan losing their BCCI contracts.
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‘Earn money, who’s stopping you?’: Praveen to Iyer and Kishan
“Paisa kamao, kaun mana kar rha hai? Paisa kamane chahiye lekin aise bhi nahi hona chahiye ki aap national nahi khel rahe, country ko importance nahi de rahe. (Earn money, who’s stopping you? But it shouldn’t be like you’re not playing for the country or domestic cricket),” Praveen said. The times of India. Iyer, one of India’s star players in the ICC World Cup last year, has yet to retain his Big B contract for the 2023-2024 season.
Will Iyer and Kishan be able to recover?
The out-of-form batsman was released from the Indian team during the England Test series. Iyer, ruled out of the quarter-final clash against Baroda, also capped a failed return to the Ranji Trophy. Premier batsman Iyer had a forgettable outing against Tamil Nadu in the semi-final of the celebrated tournament. Iyer’s teammate Kishan was awarded a Grade C contract last year. However. Kishan opted to take a break from competitive cricket when India visited South Africa. Kishan then returned to the DY Patil T20 Cup weeks before IPL 2024.
‘Rest for a month and then play IPL’
“This is now firmly in the minds of the players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest karunga, fir IPL khelunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chhorun (I will rest for a month before the IPL and then play. “This happens because mentally you are not willing to spend that much money). But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (prioritising franchise cricket) is wrong,” the former pacer Praveen said.