If Shreyas Iyer chose to take part in a Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) camp instead of accepting an invitation to participate in the Ranji Trophy, Aakash Chopra believes the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) made the correct decision in refusing Shreyas Iyer a central contract.
The list of players with central contracts for the 2023–24 season was just made public by the BCCI. Regular members of the Indian team, Shreyas and Ishan Kishan, were not given consideration for the annual contracts. Chopra mentioned that as Shreyas hadn’t scored a lot of runs in the current Test series between India and England, he was advised to play first-class cricket.
The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster said that every player can have technical difficulties, but that against England, the middle-order batter’s struggles with the short ball were particularly evident.
If you are doing KKR’s pre-season camp, there will be a problem – Aakash Chopra on Shreyas Iyer
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Chopra said that Shreyas might be in for trouble if he chose to attend a KKR camp rather than play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. He stated (2:15):
“According to an ESPNcricinfo article, Shreyas Iyer said after the Vizag match that he has slight pain in his back. The NCA gave a report that he does not have any fresh injury and that they think he is ready to play. He was asked to play as the Ranji Trophy was on,”
“There Shreyas Iyer chose not to play. However, in the same article it’s written that he went for the pre-season camp with KKR. Now that is an issue. If that has happened, if you are doing KKR’s pre-season camp, there will be a problem,” Chopra added.
He could have played a match if his break was over- Aakash Chopra on Ishan Kishan
Aakash Chopra said that even though he was requested to play in the last few Ranji Trophy league games for Jharkhand, Ishan Kishan chose not to. At 3:35, he said:
“Shreyas Iyer’s team is playing the semi-final. So he is available. However, since Ishan Kishan’s Jharkhand wasn’t in a position to qualify and some games were left, he was asked to play. He said that he doesn’t want to play,”
Reputable commentator suggested that if Kishan was mentally refreshed, he ought to have played first-class cricket rather than working out with Hardik Pandya.
“At the same time, he was already practicing with his IPL captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda but wasn’t playing Ranji Trophy matches. So that hasn’t gone down well. Instead of practicing, he could have played a match if his break was over,” Chopra said.
Even in Test matches prior to his break, Kishan was considered a wicketkeeper-batter option, according to Chopra. He believes Dhruv Jurel, though, may have locked up that spot for the time being in the longest format and may even be able to make the Men in Blue team for the next T20 World Cup.