BCCI secretary Jay Shah revealed that chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar made the final decision to exclude Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from the list of the centrally contracted players. After refusing to show up for domestic matches in spite of a BCCI directive, Kishan and Iyer lost their contract.
Iyer did participate in Ranji Trophy matches for Mumbai, including the semifinal and final, but Kishan took the extended break starting from South Africa tour and was unavailable until the IPL. Iyer, though, ended up on the receiving end when it came to light that he had gone to a KKR camp in Mumbai during a Ranji Trophy match involving his own side.
Jay Shah stated, “Check out the laws. I am simply the convener of the selection meeting; Ajit Agarkar makes the final decision. Even in the case of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer, who did not play domestic cricket, it was his choice to remove them from the central contracts list. All I do is execute. Additionally, new players like Sanju (Samson) have been added to the team. No one is above the team.”
Before the contract snub, Jay Shah said he would completely support the chief selector’s decision to take action against players who don’t meet the captain and team management’s demands on participation in domestic cricket. Shah stated that when the players were excluded, he spoke to them.
“I did indeed speak with them. Even Hardik (Pandya) stated that he was prepared to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy if the BCCI was considering him for white-ball cricket. Even if a player chooses not participate, they will still be required to play,” Jay Shah said.
