‘Bit surprised…’: Ex-India opener on Yuzvendra Chahal’s exclusion from BCCI central contracts
With the Board of Control for Cricket India (BCCI) on February 28 announced the annual player contracts for the 2023-24 season, and scrapped key players Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the list, there were several others excluded from the list.
Among them is India spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Expressing his surprise over the BCCI’s decision, former India opener Aakash Chopra said Chahal’s ouster means the selection committee is looking at other options.
“I am a bit surprised that Yuzi Chahal’s name is not there. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan – their names not being there, I can understand. Even Deepak Hooda for that matter. But Chahal’s name not being there – what does that signify? It seems to indicate that they (BCCI) are looking in a different direction. This is a validation of the theory. He might have had a ray of hope, but it wasn’t to be. His name is not there,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
ALSO READ: Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer axed from BCCI’s contract list – Here’s why
Earlier, Kishan and Iyer were excluded after ignoring the directive to play Ranji Trophy. However, skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli retained their place in the Grade A+ category. Even Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja too were included in the same category.
Kishan in the meantime was axed for his action of not playing for Jharkhand throughout the team’s campaign in the Ranji Trophy, despite not playing since leaving from the tour of South Africa in December citing personal reasons.
On the other side, Iyer did not make himself available for Mumbai’s Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda following his exclusion from the Indian team after the second Test against England. But, he was picked for the Ranji semifinals starting March 2.
Meanwhile, BCCI once again advised all Indian cricketers to play domestic games when not on national duty, while announcing the central contracts for 2023-24.
“The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.” BCCI’s statement on the matter read.
BCCI’s list of central contract awardees:
Grade A+ (4 Athletes): Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Grade A (6 Athletes): R Ashwin, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya.
Grade B (5 Athletes): Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Grade C (15 Athletes): Rinku Singh, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Mukesh Kumar, Sanju Samson, Arshdeep Singh, KS Bharat, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan and Rajat Patidar.
With agency inputs.
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Published: 01 Mar 2024, 10:23 PM IST
