[ad_1]
Kolkata Knight Riders Chandrakant Pandit is baffled to learn that his Indian Premier League team’s captain Shreyas Iyer has lost his place in the BCCI’s central contracts. Iyer, along with Ishan Kishan, were delisted after failing to fulfill the board’s mandate to play domestic cricket. During their time away, neither Iyer nor Ishan featured for their state teams in the Ranji Trophy, which did not sit well with the top brass, who later decided to pull the plug.
In Iyer’s case, what irked the selectors was that he apparently faked an injury to avoid playing in the Ranji Trophy. Iyer reported a back spasm, but he was perfectly fine, an NCA physio claimed, and once he was out in public, all hell broke loose. However, Pandit, who feels that Iyer will eventually return to Team India’s scheme of things, added a new twist to the saga that Iyer was indeed injured but managed to recover in time.
“I won’t say that Shreyas should be included in a certain Grade, but he is definitely a player who can serve India in any format. He had an injury problem, but it was resolved. He is a good player and even scored a century.” (105 against New Zealand in 2021 in Kanpur) on Test debut,” he said Noon.
Also read: Sourav Ganguly reacts to Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer’s nod for BCCI’s Ranji mandate, “Such a big IPL contract…”
“In our future series, there may be some players who are not fit, so naturally Shreyas will be there. He will play domestic cricket and can perform in the IPL. He will be useful for Indian cricket in any format.”
Pandit backs Iyer to come back strong
Pandit, who worked closely with Iyer last year, has backed the India batsman to come back strongly despite the setback. Pandit is sure that given the quality that Iyer possesses, he deserves a place in one of India’s top groups – Shreyas belonged to the INR 3 crore B group. Pandit guarantees that this blow will only make Iyer fiercely dedicated and highly motivated to come back stronger. .
“It is surprising that Shreyas was not considered for annual contracts, because he is India’s all-format player. We don’t know the reason, but I think he should come into the pool of contract players for India. He definitely could have fit in any grade. Knowing Shreyas, I don’t think it will affect him. He will definitely fight and perform. He has that fighting spirit,” he said.