The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has revealed who made the decision to exclude the likes of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the annual contract list that came in February this year.
The secretary has stated that this decision came from the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar stating that "nobody is indispensable". The removal of Iyer and Kishan from the central contract contracts came after the two players didn't show up for domestic cricket while they were not with the Indian team either.
Kishan went on a break from the Indian team and did not play in any of the games for his domestic side Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy but was reportedly training in Baroda for the Indian Premier League. Meanwhile, Iyer played in the final and the semifinal of the domestic tournament.
"You can check the constitution. I am just a convener (of the selection meeting)," Shah said during a media interaction at the BCCI head office in Mumbai on Thursday. "That decision lies with Ajit Agarkar, even when these two players (Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer) who did not play domestic (cricket), the decision to drop them (from the central contracts list) was only his.
"My role is just to implement. And we have got new players (in place), like Sanju (Samson). Nobody is indispensable," Shah added.
After the exclusion of these players, the secretary had said that he backed the chief selector's decision to take action against players who did not adhere to the Indian captain and team management's requirement to participate in domestic cricket.
"Yes, I had spoken with them (the excluded players). Media had even carried the reports," he said. "Even Hardik (Pandya) said if BCCI is considering me for white-ball, then I am ready to play Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Any player will have to play, even if they do not want to, they will have to," the 35-year-old added.
Shah also revealed what chat he had with Kishan after Mumbai Indians' clash against Gujarat Titans earlier. "No, I did not advise him anything. It was just a friendly talk that he should do well and I speak with all players like that," he said.
The 35-year-old added that there are no plans to increase match fees for the domestic players in the country. "We have increased the pay anyway and also incentivised Test cricket. We had increased the pay by 100 per cent in 2022," Shah said.
