BCCI central contracts: Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan out of central contracts, Yashasvi Jaiswal new entrant

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the annual player contracts for 2023-24 with Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan dropping out completely. The duo have come under fire for skipping Ranji Trophy matches despite being fit to represent their state units.

Kishan opted out of the series against South Africa in December due to "personal reasons." He's not played for Jharkhand since and earned indirect rebuke from BCCI and skipper Rohit Sharma.

Iyer, meanwhile, played for Mumbai and has been included in the squad for the semi-finals but had opted out of the quarterfinal.

BCCI, once again, urged the players to prioritise domestic cricket when not involved with the national team. "The BCCI has recommended that all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team," said the statement.

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Shubman Gill has been promoted to Grade A with Yashasvi Jaiswal the newest entrant, in Grade B, after shining with the bat in the ongoing Test series against England.

Injured Rishabh Pant has dropped down the order of contracts to now be among the five in Grade B. The Delhi Capitals captain is expected to make his long-awaited return to big stage competition in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The BCCI statement further said, "Athletes who meet the criteria of playing a minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the specified period will automatically be included in Grade C on a pro-rata basis. For instance, Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan, having played 2 Test matches so far, will be inducted into Grade C if they participate in the Dharamsala Test Match, i.e., the 5th Test of the ongoing series against England."

The Selection Committee has also recommended Fast Bowling contracts for the following athletes – Akash Deep, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Umran Malik, Yash Dayal and Vidwath Kaverappa.

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)

Surya Kumar 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.