Hardik Pandya handed BCCI contract after giving assurance of playing white-ball domestic tournaments – Reports

Hardik Pandya returned to cricketing action in the DY Patil T20 Cup after his injury in World Cup 2023.

Even as the decision to remove Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan off the central contracts list for failing to appear in domestic events has elicited varied emotions, there has also been much criticism about Hardik Pandya’s selection.

According to reports, the selectors and the BCCI only awarded Hardik a contract when the all-rounder agreed that if he is not involved in national duty, he would play for Baroda in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Based on the selectors’ suggestions, BCCI secretary Jay Shah declared on Wednesday that Shreyas and Ishan would not be considered for the 2023-24 yearly contracts. Though the two had been part of the national team in all three forms for the majority of 2023, their absence from the Ranji Trophy drew strong criticism from numerous quarters.

Despite Shah’s efforts to encourage contracted players to participate in the tournament, Shreyas and Ishan were absent from the following round of Ranji games.

Shreyas has since made himself available for Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy semi-final, and Ishan Kishan made his cricket return in the ongoing DY Patil T20 Cup.

Hardik Pandya has to play white-ball domestic matches or he’ll miss out on contracts – Reports

As per a report in Indian Express, there were discussion regarding Pandya’s place in Grade A of the annual contract list as well in the recent meeting about contracts. Pandya had been out of action since injured his ankle at the World Cup in October, but he returned to professional cricket in the DY Patil tournament last week, playing for Reliance.

According to a top BCCI official, Pandya has also stated that he will participate in domestic competitions if they do not conflict with international commitments.

“We have had discussions with Pandya, who has been told to play domestic white-ball tournaments when he is available. At this stage, according to the assessment of the BCCI’s medical team, he is not in a position to bowl in red-ball tournaments. So playing Ranji Trophy is out of the equation for Pandya. But he has to play other white-ball tournaments if there are no India commitments. If not, he will miss out on a contract,” the official told The Indian Express.

As per The FTP, India are scheduled to play only three T20Is at home against Bangladesh as the team has a busy test calendar.

The Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s and Vijay Hazare Trophy will be held between October and December when India will be free of white-ball commitments. And, unless he has any fitness difficulties, Pandya has been told to participate in both of these competitions.

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