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The debate around the axing of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan by the BCCI from its central contract is not ending anytime soon. The duo got penalized after they missed their respective state team’s Ranji Trophy games. There were some reports which suggested that after missing domestic cricket, Iyer attended the practice session of his IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders. This news reportedly irked selectors, which led to Iyer’s exclusion from the central contract. Recently, former Australia spinner Brad Hogg lashed out at the KKR skipper for not showing up for the state team.
Hogg, who was also a part of KKR in 2016, stated that a player needs to be like Virat Kohli, if he needs a break from domestic cricket.
“If you have time to play domestic cricket, you have to do that. For Iyer, you can’t be just going and practicing with your franchise as I have heard rumours that that has happened. You got to go back to the state team. If you’re not playing international cricket, you have to play state cricket unless you’re Virat Kohli who has played so much cricket around the year and really needs a break to rejuvenate,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel.
Iyer did not make himself available for Mumbai’s Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He, however, played Mumbai’s Ranji semifinal against Tamil Nadu.
Amid all this debate, legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar congratulated Mumbai for reaching their 48th Ranji Trophy final.
“When India players turn up for their domestic teams, it raises the quality of play for youngsters and sometimes new talent is identified. It also gives the national players a chance to sometimes rediscover the basics. With top notch players participating in domestic tournaments, over a period of time, fans will also start following and supporting their domestic teams much more. Wonderful to see @BCCI give equal priority to domestic cricket,” tweeted Sachin.
“The Ranji Trophy semi-finals have been riveting! @MumbaiCricAssoc’s march into the finals was aided by a brilliant batting recovery, while the other semi-final hangs in the balance going into the last day – Madhya Pradesh need 90 runs to win, Vidarbha need 4 wickets,” Tendulkar added.
Apart from Iyer, Kishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team’s campaign in Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty after leaving the tour of South Africa in December citing personal reasons. He instead focused on preparing for the IPL for his franchise Mumbai Indians.
(With PTI Inputs)
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