The Chhattisgarh

Tag: Ranji Trophy 2024

  • Explained: What Led To Ishan Kishan Losing BCCI Contract? Why Has Shreyas Iyer Been Punished? , cricket news

    Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were both in India’s World Cup squad and featured for the country in international cricket across formats. Kishan was India’s first-choice keeper in white-ball cricket after Rishabh Pant met with an accident. Kishan had a golden chance to become India’s first-choice keeper in Tests as well with good show in South Africa. Alas, that didn’t happen.

    Iyer played some of the best ODI innings of his life in the World Cup. He hit a hundred in the semifinal clash of the World Cup vs New Zealand. He was India’s No 5 fir the last one and a half years in Tests.

    Today, these two cricketers have been declined annual contracts from BCCI? But why? What is their fault? What led to BCCI punishing them like this? Let’s take a look at how things panned out since World Cup last year.

    Shreyas Iyer scored 530 runs in the 2023 World Cup and smashed a 70 ball hundred in the Semi Finals.

    3 months later he’s not part of the BCCI Central Contract – really unfortunate for Shreyas to not make the list, hope he makes a strong comeback. ___ pic.twitter.com/R2HJAgo8zG — Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) February 28, 2024

    It all started in December 2023 when Ishan requested BCCI for a break from cricket. This request came right before the Test series and Kishan was a part of the squad. His request was approved and Kishan returned to India. However, reports poured in after a few days that BCCI management was upset with him as Kishan was allegedly partying in Dubai. When the Ranji Trophy season began, Kishan skipped one match after the other for Jharkhand. This irked BCCI further.

    Kishan was eventually not considered either in selection for Afghanistan T20Is and then England Tests. Rahul Dravid, speaking to the press before the T20Is, had said that Kishan is required to play some cricket for consideration for selection. At that point of time, he was unavailable for selection. Dravid’s statement was understood differently as many thought he was asking Kishan to play domestic cricket. Later, ahead of the Visakhapatnam Test, Dravid clarified his earlier statement, saying what he meant was that Kishan needed to play some cricket, not necessarily domestic cricket, to be considered for selection.

    It must be noted that in the period from Kishan flying back to India and then appearing in Baroda in February, his social media was also inactive. It was not known where he was and what he was doing before a report emerged that he was practicing with Hardik and Krunal Pandya at the Kiran More’s academy. Kishan continued to miss the Ranji Trophy games and chose to focus on fitness training and is now playing the DY Patil T20 Tournament in Mumbai with Hardik Pandya.

    Jay Shah, in his speech during the inauguration of the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, sent a strong message to all India cricketers, asking them to give domestic cricket their utmost priority.

    “They (the players) have been informed on phone already and I’m going to write letters as well that if your chairman of selectors, your coach and your captain are asking for it then you will have to play red-ball cricket.” He made it official when he sent a mail to all the centrally contracted players.

    As a result, when BCCI released the central contracts, we got to know that Shah was not merely sending a warning but he had indeed walked the talk.

    What happened with Shreyas Iyer?

    Shreyas Iyer’s case is entirely different from that of Kishan. Iyer, in fact, played a Ranji Trophy game for Mumbai before the England tour to get back among runs. BCCI’s release said that Iyer and Kishan were not ‘considered’ for contracts. It is kind of strange how the board has lost faith in Iyer so soon as he recently played two Tests for India against England. He did not make it to the squad for the last 3 Tests against England.

    Dravid had categorically mentioned in the press conference that Iyer had missed out on the selection. There were no injury concerns but Iyer reportedly cited one as the reason for missing Mumbai’s quarterfinal clash. Later, National Cricket Academy’s medical team told BCCI that Iyer was totally fit and there was not even a niggle.

    This act by Iyer must have pushed BCCI to take action against him. By dropping these two cricketers off the contracts list, the message is clear: play domestic cricket, give priority to red-ball cricket, and do not just focus on T20 cricket.

  • Did BCCI Just Send Last Warning To Ishan Kishan After He Skips National Duty, Ignores Ranji Trophy? , cricket news

    The BCCI are not very happy with some of their international stars deciding to skip the elite red-ball domestic tournament Ranji Trophy and putting all their focus on Indian Premier League. IPL 2024 is likely to start at the end of March. However, some players including Ishan Kishan decided to skip it and rather train in a private facility in Baroda to get ready for IPL. Kishan’s act has not gone down well with BCCI and the current team management.

    The Jharkhand wicketkeeper and batter had left the team in December last year just before the away Test series vs South Africa. He was part of the Test squad and was set to play in the two Tests as well. When Kishan left, it was reported that he had requested BCCI for a break as he had been traveling non-stop with the team since Asia Cup. But since then, Kishan has not found his way back into the team.

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    Reports started to come in about Kishan’s alleged indiscipline and poor attitude as his name did not feature in the T20Is vs Afghanistan at home. Back then, India head coach Rahul Dravid clarified to the press that Kishan needs to play domestic cricket to get his place back in the Indian team. Kishan was not available for selection, he had added. Despite Dravid’s statement, it was not confirmed whether Kishan was being dropped for his indiscipline.

    BCCI was initially upset with Kishan for going to party in Dubai after saying he needed a break. Then, the batter began to snub Ranji Trophy and missed five matches for the home side Jharkhand. JSCA secretary was quoted as saying that Kishan had not reached out to them regarding his availability for Ranji Trophy match and that he would feature in XI as soon as he made himself available. But days later, Kishan was found training at Kiran More Academy in Baroda with Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya.

    This act by Kishan has pushed BCCI to make it mandatory for national-level players to play in Ranji Trophy if they are not injured, recovering or on a break due to personal commitments. Players who are not currently part of the national squad or undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru received an email on Monday containing a directive. Effective immediately, they are required to join their respective state teams for the upcoming round of Ranji Trophy matches starting on February 16th.

    Kishan is expected to play the next match for Jharkhand in Jamshedput against Rajasthan. Not to forget, some of the veterans like Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane are also playing Ranji Trophy. Prithvi Shaw joined Mumbai camp after recovering from knee injury and slammed a hundred too.

    Might be safe to say that Ishan Kishan’s career is over and management has moved passed him. Amidst all this, real victim is Sanju Samson who was ignored all these years for Ishan despite being a dedicated athlete. — Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) February 10, 2024

    This ruling by BCCI to instill discipline in players does not just limit to Kishan. Even Krunal Pandya and Deepak Chahar have not been playing Ranji Trophy matches despite being free from injuries.

    According to a BCCI official familiar with the decision, “Players cannot simply prioritize international cricket or the IPL. They must make themselves available for domestic cricket and honor their commitments to their respective state teams.”

    Clearly, this is a strong message from BCCI to Kishan and other players who needed this jolt. There are also reports that Kishan was not happy with Jitesh Sharma replacing him in the T20I XI against South Africa in December. Hopefully, some day, Kishan will come out with his own version of the recent developments but for now, he has been handed a lesson by BCCI and he must admit, it is for his own good.

  • Irfan Pathan Takes Indirect Dig At Selectors, Shares Sarfaraz Khan’s Batting Records In Tweet Which Is Going Viral | cricket news

    Two days ago when Virat Kohli announced he was not going to feature for India in the first two Tests vs England, he was replaced by Rajat Patidar. Sarfaraz Khan, who recently struck 55 and 96 vs England Lions as part of India A did not find a place in the team. He does not have a huge fan base but a large section of the Team India enthusiasts feel that he is being kept unjustifiably out of the team. What is troubling some fans is that there is no explanation why Sarfaraz is being kept away from the national team despite flurry of performances.

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    Sarfaraz has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, making heaps of runs season after season in Ranji Trophy and other domestic tournaments. But the national cap is hard to come by. Sarfaraz was not picked for the two-match Test series in South Africa and has not been preferred to replace Kohli in the first two Tests. At the same time, Dhruv Jurel, who has had a decent show in domestic cricket has received a call up for the Tests vs England.

    Irfan Pathan, former India bowler, is not liking what he is seeing at the moment. He feels that Sarfaraz deserves an answer to this constant snub. Irfan, on Wednesday, shared his stats from the first-class cricket and wrote: “If you are him and not getting selected for test cricket, what are you thinking”. Irfan did not name Sarfaraz in his tweet on X but the numbers are of him only. In 44 first-class matches, Sarfaraz has scored 3751 runs at an average of 68.20 and strike rate of 69.59. Irfan had also shared the same numbers.

    If you are him and not getting selected for test cricket, what are you thinking??? pic.twitter.com/uVzUfvNPTx

    — Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 24, 2024

    Not to forget, Sarfaraz also has 13 hundreds and 11 fifties to his name. It is also true that the batter has had a poor show in IPL so far, which could be a big reason why he has got snub for the selectors over the years.

    There are many domestic giants in the past who either never got to play for India or did not get a long run with the team. These players include Amol Majumdar, Subramaniam Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer. One can say that Jaffer is an exception as he played cricket for India for some time but even after Virender Sehwag replaced him in the Tests, Jaffer continues to make heaps of runs in domestic cricket but never got the ticket back into the Test side. Hopefully, Sarfaraz’s story will not meet the same fate.

  • Ranji Trophy 2024: Man Of The Match Winners To Get Special Prize; Check Cash Prize Given By BCCI | cricket news

    The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has taken a new initiative to honor the ‘Player of the match’ in Ranji Trophy matches. The winner of the award will be given a medal for his performance. There is no clarity at the moment about the cash prize with the medal, earlier it was Rs 25,000.

    In a circular sent to all match referees and state associations, accessed by The Indian Express, the board states, ‘This is to inform you that the BCCI has dispatched ‘Player of the Match’ medals to all the host associations of the Ranji Trophy matches. for both Elite and Plate groups. You are requested to hand over the medal (one per match) to the match referee on his/her arrival.” (NZ Vs PAK 1st T20I: Finn Allen Hits Shaheen Afridi For 24 Runs In An Over As Pacer Records Most Expensive Over In T20Is)

    ‘Player of the Match’ in Ranji Trophy will now get medals also.

    The Player of the Match till last season used to get Rs 25,000/ from the sponsors. This year, the BCCI has decided to also award him a medal. pic.twitter.com/GdFnMk6xFA Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) January 11, 2024

    In another news, India player Hanuma Vihari will not be leading Andhra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy after having stepped down from captaincy on Thursday. On Friday, during Andhra’s Group B match against Mumbai, Ricky Bhui was leading the side. According to media reports, Vihari’s decision was personal and he wanted to focus on his batting. (“Only Effective As Opener,” Babar Azam Trolled Even After Scoring Fifty Against New Zealand)

    Vihari managed 51 runs in the opening game against Bengal, which ended in a draw. Interestingly, he was mulling a move to Madhya Pradesh before the start of the season, as he was eager to play under domestic coach Chandrakant Pandit to revive his international career.

    Vihari has represented India in 16 Tests so far, scoring 839 runs at an average of 33.56, including a ton and five half-centuries, with a top score of 111 against the West Indies in Kingston in 2019. Having made his Test debut at The Oval in 2018, his last outing also happened to be in England, in Birmingham 2022.