'If players like Hardik...': Irfan's big comment on Iyer and Ishan

NEW DELHI: The BCCI on Wednesday revealed its list of centrally-contracted players for the year. India captain Rohit Sharma, batting ace Virat Kohli, star speedster Jasprit Bumrah, and dashing allrounder Ravindra Jadeja maintained their positions in the top tier, while

Shreyas Iyer

and

Ishan Kishan

were not included in any category.
Ishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team's campaign in Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty since leaving from the tour of South Africa in December last, citing personal reasons.

He has instead focussed on preparing for the IPL next month.
On the other hand, Iyer did not make himself available for Mumbai's Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team following the second Test against England.

The middle-order batsman Iyer, however, has been picked for the Ranji semifinals starting March 2.
After BCCI announced its central contracts to players, former India cricketer

Irfan Pathan

took to social media and said: They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger."

"If players like Hardik don’t want to play red ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this doesn’t apply to all, then Indian cricket won’t achieve the desired results!," Pathan said.

While announcing the central contracts, the BCCI once again advised all the Indian cricketers to play domestic games when not on national duty.
The exclusion of Iyer and Kishan can be seen as a stern message to young players unwilling to put in the hard yards in first-class cricket, while chasing white-ball glory and lucrative IPL contracts.