Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Dropped As BCCI Announces Annual Central Contracts

BCCI announced the central contract list [X.com]

In a significant development, the Board Of Control for Cricket in India has announced the central contract retention list for 2023-24. In what comes as an absolute shocker, the apex body has excluded Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the list. 

The list consists of thirty Indian players categorised in four grades. Besides skipper Rohit Sharma, veteran cricketers Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are the only three players to be included in the A+ grade. 

Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya are placed in A grade alongside Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul, who recently missed out on plenty of action due to injury. 

Grade B comprises Suryakumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, while players like Sanju Samson, Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Shardul Thakur and Arshdeep Singh etc. are included in grade C. 

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The board has also clarified that Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan will be included in grade C following their participation in the Dharamsala Test commencing on March 7. 

Although the BCCI hasn’t mentioned a specific reason behind the removal of Iyer and Ishan, it’s believed that their temperamental issues might have led to their exclusion from the list. 

List of centrally contracted Indian players

Grade A+: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja

Grade A: R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya

Grade B: Surya Kumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal

Grade C: Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar

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