NEW DELHI: The decision to remove
Ishan Kishan
and
Shreyas Iyer
from the list of players under central contract was made only by
Ajit Agarkar
, the chairman of selectors,
BCCI
secretary
Jay Shah
disclosed, stating that "nobody is indispensable".
After neglecting to appear for domestic engagements in spite of a BCCI mandate,
Kishan
and Iyer were excluded.
Iyer did play for Mumbai in a couple of
Ranji Trophy
matches, including the semifinal and final, but Kishan took a lengthy vacation following the conclusion of the ODI World Cup and did not return until the IPL.
Iyer was still on the receiving end, though, when it came to light that he had gone to a Kolkata Knight Riders camp in Mumbai when his statemates were occupied with a Ranji Trophy match.
"You can check the constitution. I am just a convener (of the selection meeting)," he said during a media interaction at the BCCI head office here 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," he added.
Shah restated the Board's stance, according to which Indian players must give priority to playing domestic cricket.
Before the third Test match between India and England in February of this year, Shah had declared in the days preceding the contract rejection that he would fully support the chief selector's decision to take any action against players who do not adhere to the Indian captain and team management's requirements for participation in domestic cricket.
Following their expulsion, Shah claimed to have spoken with the players.
"Yes, I had spoken with them. 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," Shah continued.
Shah stated that, in the end, it boils down to who is playing well and who can maintain performance as a player when discussing high scores in this year's IPL.
"Whoever plays well in the IPL... like say Ishan Kishan, he finds it difficult to take part with the Indian team but he can play in Mumbai Indians as a player. There he can play in a relaxed manner.
"In
Team India
, you have to prove yourself, give back to back performances. The one who can handle that can be described as a right player," he added.
Shah also shared information on his chat with Kishan, which happened following the Mumbai Indians' game against the Gujarat Titans.
"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.
While there have been a few media reports mentioning an increase in the match fees for domestic players in the country, Shah said there is no such plan.
"We have increased the pay anyway and also incentivised Test cricket. We had increased the pay by 100 per cent in 2022," Shah added.
(With PTI inputs)
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