Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer – these two Indian cricket team stars have been in the news for the past few months. Ishan Kishan made headlines when he took a break during India's Tour of South Africa, while Shreyas Iyer was dropped from the Indian squad for the final three Tests against England. Subsequently, reports claimed that Ishan Kishan's reluctance to play in Ranji Trophy matches was seen in a bad light by the BCCI top brass. There were conflicting reports about Shreyas Iyer when he made himself unavailable for a Ranji Trophy match.
On Wednesday, the names of both stars were missing from BCCI's annual player contracts for Team India (Senior Men) for the 2023-24 season (October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024).
Here's a timeline of how events unfolded.
December 17, 2023: Ishan Kishan takes a break halfway through the Tour of South Africa. “Ishan Kishan has requested the BCCI to be released from the upcoming Test series against South Africa due to personal reasons. The wicketkeeper has subsequently been withdrawn from the Test squad,” the BCCI said.
January 2024: Ishan Kishan is not picked for the T20I series against Afghanistan and the Test series against England.
January 25 – February 5, 2024: Shreyas Iyer returns with poor scores from the first two Tests against England. His scores are 35, 13, 27, 29.
February 5, 2024: Rahul Dravid's clear message on Ishan Kishan: “Every time he (Ishan Kishan) is ready, I didn't say he should play domestic cricket, I said whenever he is ready, he should play some cricket has to play and has to come back. The choice is his. We won't force him to do anything.”
February 10, 2024: Squad for final three tests against England announced. Shreyas Iyer's name is missing. “If Shreyas was rested due to injury, the BCCI medical bulletin would have had an update. Since there are no updates, it can be concluded that he has got the axe,” a source had told news agency PTI at the time.
February 15, 2024: BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday made it clear that all centrally contracted cricketers will have to compulsorily play red-ball cricket in the domestic circuit and the management will not tolerate any form of excuse in the matter.
February 16, 2024: Ishan Kishan's absence from the Ranji Trophy continued as the wicketkeeper-batsman, who plays domestic cricket for Jharkhand, skipped the final round of matches that started on this date.
February 22, 2024: Indian cricket team batsman Shreyas Iyer made himself unavailable for the Ranji Trophy quarter-finals in Mumbai due to injury concerns, but the National Cricket Academy (NCA) has said he has no 'new injuries', according to a report by Indian Express.
February 22, 2024: A video of Ishan Kishan's gym session with Hardik Pandya goes viral.
February 23, 2024: A report in Times of India says that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer may be dropped from BCCI's central contract list.
February 27, 2024: Ishan Kishan returns to competitive cricket at the DY Patil T20 Cup, while Shreyas Iyer is named in the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai.
February 28: Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer dropped from BCCI contract list. “Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations,” the BCCI said.
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