Former India skipper expresses delight over Indian management putting their foot down over priortising domestic cricket

Recently, the Indian Cricket Board has decided to renew the annual contracts of its players who are playing for the national side. On the other hand, two players, Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer have been dropped from the contracts. The former hasn’t played the game since November last year. During the India tour of South Africa 2023-24, he decided to pull out of the series due to mental fatigue.

The left-hander was asked to play in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2024 for his state team, Jharkhand. The team failed to play in the knockouts. On the other hand, Iyer was left out due to a back injury. He was declared fit by the NCA in an email exchange with the board after he kept himself unavailable for the quarterfinal between Baroda and Mumbai. This led to him being dropped from the central contracts alongside Kishan.

Meanwhile, some of the former cricketers have praised the board for putting their foot down. One of them is the former India skipper Kapil Dev. He said that the players aren’t bigger than the country.

“A few players will suffer, but let it be,” said legendary former India captain Kapil Dev.

“Yes, few players will suffer, kuch logon ko taqleef hogi, hone do lekin desh se badhkar koi nahi hai (some people will feel hurt but let it be because nobody is bigger than the country). Well done,” he said.

“I congratulate the Board for taking the much needed step to protect the status of domestic cricket. I was sad to see domestic cricket being given the skip by players once they had established themselves in international cricket,”

VIDEO | Here’s what veteran cricketer Kapil Dev said on #BCCI‘s decision to drop Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from central contract.

“I am so happy that the cricket board has taken a step forward for first-class cricket. The boys must play that, it’s good for the country.… pic.twitter.com/64SZGeyCYn

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 1, 2024