The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) came down heavily on Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan for not giving preference to red-ball domestic cricket despite repeated warnings by the board and the board secretary Jay Shah by terminating their annual central contract for the 2023-24 season. While many have deemed the move a bit harsh including former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, however, some have called it a reality check for players who prefer IPL over any domestic tournament in the country.
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has boarded that train as he backed BCCI's decision of leaving Ishan and Iyer out of the contracts list saying that the game is over and above anything else and the players need to respect that.
"BCCI has made the right call, taking such strict action early on to control the damage. If they had given them a levy and handed them central contracts, a lot more players would have started playing on their own terms in the future. India have given a message to their players to ensure that nobody even thinks of doing something like this the next time. This is proof of good management. Nobody is bigger than the game," Akmal said on his YouTube channel.
"Shreyas Iyer played the first two Tests of the series. If you don't value the cricket because of which you made it to the national team, what message is it going to give to all the youngsters?" Akmal further added.
While Ishan Kishan was reprimanded for training alongside his IPL captain Hardik Pandya rather than playing Ranji Trophy for his state team Jharkhand or reporting at the NCA after being clearly told by the BCCI to play some games before being considered for the national side, Shreyas Iyer paid price for attending the KKR camp, his IPL franchise, when he was reportedly injured.
A fantastic IPL in addition to consistent appearances in domestic cricket will be the only way for the duo to make a comeback to the national team.
