Was Iyer's World Cup show ignored before terminating central contract?

Shreyas Iyer. Pic/Getty Images

The BCCI has sent out a strong message by leaving out Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the central contracts. The duo's offence is not known; only presumed at best.

Else, how does one explain the words in BCCI's Wednesday press release on contracts: "Please note that Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan were not considered for the annual contracts in this round of recommendations." Two World Cup squad members missing out on a contract when the rest of their teammates have clinched annual pay packets is no trivial matter. The retainer amounts, though undisclosed, cannot be loose change.

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The punishment meted out to Iyer and Kishan seems too harsh. A team comprises players of all sorts of temperament - hot heads, cool dudes, moderately temperamental et al and there will be untoward incidents which team bosses have to deal with.

The contracts system involves the selectors too and it could well be that Iyer and Kishan have erred on the domestic cricket front too. And yes, Iyer and Kishan haven't been seen parading their skills on the domestic scene often. If their reasons for this aren't convincing then punishment is justified but not to the point of depriving them of contracts.

It's hard to comprehend why the contracts-deciding personalities didn't consider Iyer's contribution to India's cause in last year's ODI World Cup.

Sure, he failed in the final against Australia, but his previous two innings produced impressive centuries, including one in a semi-final against New Zealand.

After the Ahmedabad final, Iyer played one game in the three-match series against South Africa, in which he scored 52. Kishan played two World Cup games which included a 47 against Afghanistan. Let's talk domestic cricket, which could be at the heart of the situation Iyer and Kishan find themselves in. While the BCCI is right in mandating participation which, among others reasons, will help state teams to field stronger outfits, the question needs to be asked as to why are crucial rounds of the Ranji Trophy and the annual Irani Cup fixture invariably be held when star players are not available? Why can't the international calendar be tweaked a bit to make our national championships more meaty and meaningful?

Kishan's Jharkhand haven't made the Ranji Trophy semi-finals, but Iyer's Mumbai have. And he knows what he can produce with that broad blade. No better way to ease the pain than decorating the scorebook with performances.