'Shouldn't players like Hardik Pandya participate in domestic cricket when they aren't on national duty?' Irfan Pathan questions BCCI for excluding Shreyas, Kishan from central contracts

MUMBAI: Former India fast bowler Irfan Pathan raised questions on Thursday over the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decision to exclude Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from central contracts and pointed out the case of Hardik Pandya, who has been selective in his domestic and international commitments but remains a key figure in the national team.

The former all-rounder took to X (formerly Twitter) and hoped that Kishan and Iyer would make good comebacks for Team India. He even stated that the criteria should remain the same for everyone when the BCCI included star all-rounder Pandya's name on the contract list.

"They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don't want to play red-ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren't on national duty? If this doesn't apply to all, then Indian cricket won't achieve the desired results!" Pathan posted on X.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the contracts for the 2023-24 season. Kishan and Iyer were among the two biggest omissions from the annual player contracts list.

"Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations," BCCI said in their statement.

The star all-rounder Pandya, who has not played for Men in Blue since suffering an injury in a match against Bangladesh World Cup 2023 match, held on to Grade A contract.

In last year's retainer, Iyer was in Grade B while Kishan was part of Grade C.

The last time Ishan played for India was in the T20I format against Australia in Guwahati, following that he failed to make his place in the first eleven. The 25-year-old was in the T20I squad in South Africa in December 2023 but did not take part in any of the three games.

On the other hand, Iyer was dropped from the India squad for the last three Tests after playing the first two Test of the five-match series against England where he managed to score just 35 runs in the matches played at Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.