Pakistan National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has shared his views on the decision made by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to terminate the central contracts of the star batters Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer.
Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the central contract list for the 2023-24 season and the biggest news coming out of it was the removal of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the list.
The above-mentioned batters have been regular members of the Indian team for quite some time and played key roles in big matches as well. However, the BCCI decided to punish them because of their indiscipline as they ignored the BCCI’s directives to participate in domestic red-ball cricket – the Ranji Trophy.
Ishan Kishan had pulled out of the South Africa tour in December 2023 due to personal reasons and he just recently made his comeback to competitive cricket during the DY Patil tournament. During this period, he was asked by the board to participate in domestic cricket, but he didn’t do that.
Similarly, Shreyas Iyer after being dropped for the last three Tests against England didn’t participate in Ranji Trophy and he chose to train with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). As per reports, Shreyas Iyer told BCCI that he was having back pain, but the NCA had declared him fully fit. However, now he has made himself available and is featuring in the semi-final of Ranji Trophy for Mumbai.
Despite losing central contracts the duo will still be available for the selection for international cricket but there is a big question mark over their selection for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Several former cricketers have shared their views on this matter and the latest one to join the bandwagon is a cricketer from Pakistan National Cricket Team.
BCCI has made the right call – Kamran Akmal
In a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Kamran Akmal came down hard on Shreyas Iyer. He said:
“Shreyas Iyer played the first two Tests of the series. If you don’t value cricket because of which you made it to the national team, what message is it going to give to all the youngsters?”
Kamran Akmal further gave his verdict on the decision made by BCCI. He said that the governing body made the right choice by taking strict action as it would send a message to all the cricketers.
“BCCI has made the right call, taking such strict action early on to control the damage. If they had given them a levy and handed them central contracts, a lot more players would have started playing on their own terms in the future. India have given a message to their players to ensure that nobody even thinks of doing something like this the next time. This is proof of good management. Nobody is bigger than the game.”
Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer will be looking forward to delivering a good performance in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 in order to make their case strong for a comeback to the national side.
