Shreyas Iyer gets out cheaply in Ranji Trophy return after losing BCCI central contract

Shreyas Iyer got out on three on his return to Ranji Trophy Sunday. The Mumbai batter is making his return to domestic red-ball tournament after being dropped from BCCI central contracts as a punishment for missing Ranji Trophy matches despite not being part of Team India setup. In the ongoing semi-finals between Mumbai and Tamil Nadu, Iyer walked in to bat at no 6 after captain Ajinkya Rahane fell on 19 and the hosts were reeling at 91/4 in reply to TN's first innings total of 146.

Read | Iyer, Kishan will be awarded contract if they fulfil criteria of required matches: Report

Iyer's innings lasted for just eight balls during which he was also peppered with a short ball by Sandeep Warrier before the pacer dismissed the India cricketer. Iyer became victim of chopping down a delivery onto his own stumps.

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Iyer's last competetive match before the Ranji semis was the second India vs England Test at Visakhapatnam after which he was dropped from the national side. He scored 35,13, 27 and 29 in four innings against England and was dropped for poor form, having not scored a fifty in last 13 Test innings.

Read | Chief selector Agarkar was 'furious' with Shreyas Iyer, claims report

After being out of national team, Iyer decided to skip group games for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy despite the BCCI asking the contracted players to take part in domestic cricket. This irked BCCI and the batter was eventually dropped from the list of contracted players for 2023-24 season.

There were reports that Iyer had complained of back issues and that is why he skipped Ranji Trophy matches, but it was also leaked that the National Cricket Academy(NCA) had declared him fit in an email to BCCI.

Timeline: What led to Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer losing BCCI contracts

Iyer was not the only player to lose his contract due to ignoring BCCI's diktat. Ishan Kishan has also been pushed out of contracts after he didn't turn up for Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy.

Kishan, who has not been part of Team India since taking a break midway through South Africa tour, was spotted training in Baroda with his IPL captain Hardik Pandya and is also playing in DY Patil T20 Tournament, but didn't take part in Ranji Trophy and this did not go down well with BCCI.