"Nobody is bigger than country," Kapil Dev reacts to BCCI leaving out Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from contracts

Kapil Dev has lauded BCCI’s decision to not include Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan on annual central contract.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Wednesday, 28th February, 2024, announced the list of annual central contracts. A total of 30 players were shortlisted by the governing body for the season 2023-24. Meanwhile, two big notable names were missing from the contracts list. Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who were part of Indian squads across formats last year, were dropped from the central contracts due to them persistently neglecting Indian domestic cricket and prioritising IPL.

India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has now lauded the BCCI’s stand to prioritise Ranji Trophy and scrap central contracts of players not willing to play in the major Indian domestic tournaments. BCCI has announced 30 names divided into four grades. Kapil also criticised Iyer and Kishan for skipping the major Indian domestic tournaments.

Kapil Dev on BCCI’s Ranji priority

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were continuously ignoring the board’s dictate to play in the Ranji Trophy when they are not part of the Indian squad. Iyer was reportedly dropped from the Indian squad after the Visakhapatnam test match against England, while Kishan pulled out of India squad during South African tour citing ‘mental fatigue.’

Former Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev said, “I congratulate the BCCI for taking the much needed step to protect the status of domestic cricket. I was sad to see domestic cricket being given the skip by players once they had established themselves in international cricket. Yes, few players will suffer, kuch logon ko taqleef hogi, hone do lekin desh se badhkar koi nahi hai (some people will feel hurt but let it be because nobody is bigger than the country). Well done.”

Kapil Dev also added that it is the domestic tournaments that build a player for international level. Kapil also said that he has always believed in international players partaking in the Ranji Trophy. A few of the current cricketers raised concern over the declining quality of the Ranji Trophy. The BCCI’s recent step will surely boost Ranji Trophy.

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