File photo of India cricket team star KL Rahul© AFP
Indian cricket is abuzz with one news these days. In an apparent show of a hard stance, the BCCI terminated the contracts of Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan. Their reported reluctance to play in national-level domestic tournaments is being seen as a reason for their exclusion. Ishan Kishan was last part of the squad that toured South Africa before he went on a break while Iyer was part of the first two Tests against England, before he was dropped.
Kishan after going on break trained with Hardik Pandya but missed Ranji Trophy matches for his state team Jharkhand. Shreyas Iyer missed a Ranji Trophy game for his state team Mumbai and claimed he was unfit. However, according to a report in Indian express, the NCA report on him was contradictory.
Several reports have claimed that Iyer attended a Kolkata Knight Riders pre-IPL camp during this time. Iyer is the skipper of KKR. According to a report in the Revsportz, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar was “furious” when he came to know about this development that Iyer was attending an IPL camp despite complaining of a back problem.
The report further claimed that KKR management was in touch with the Mumba Ranji Trophy coach and gave him the details of his activities with the group.
“After playing 60 balls in a session, his back was building spasms. He had to build up his resistance. Now he is playing 200 balls per session. In three weeks, he has put on three kilos of muscles. The Mumbai Cricket Association and the Mumbai team head coach (Omkar Salvi) have been kept in the loop. In fact, the Mumbai coach visited the KKR Academy several times to monitor Iyer’s progress. And now he has made himself available for the Ranji Trophy semi-final against Tamil Nadu,” an insider told demanding anonymity to Revsportz.
Regarding Iyer’s absence from NCA or Ranji Trophy, the source brought the issue of another star – KL Rahul. The star has been ruled out of the ongoing India vs England Test series.
“KL Rahul, too, went to London for the treatment of his quadriceps pain. Nobody has asked a question. And when was the last time Rahul turned up for a Ranji game? He is also an injury-prone cricketer who has missed series and matches. A player is the best judge in terms of assessing his body,” the person was quoted as saying.
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