Irfan Pathan was also a little surprised to see the names of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer not in this list of central contracts. The former all-rounder posted about this on X and expressed hope that both Kishan and Iyer will make a strong comeback for the Indian team. He also talked about how the rules should remain the same for everyone after BCCI mentioned star all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s name in the contract list.

Irfan Pathan posted about Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer

Irfan Pathan posted an ex and wrote, “Both Shreyas and Ishaan are talented cricketers. Hopefully they will bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don’t want to play red-ball cricket, should he and other players like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when not on national duty? If this is not applied to all, Indian cricket will not be able to achieve the desired results!”

They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don’t want to play red ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this…

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) February 29, 2024

The surprising thing is that Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer did not get the central contract because both of them did not play in Ranji Trophy. However, Shreyas Iyer played Ranji Trophy after the South Africa tour and then was also a part of the Test team. Now he is also going to play the semi-finals, but the selectors did the same with him as they did with Ishaan.

According to BCCI rules, if a player has played 3 Tests, 8 ODIs or 10 T20I matches from October 1 till the release of the central contract, then he is included in the central contract. Both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer fit into this. He did not find a place in the list of annual contracts, while Hardik Pandya, who was out of World Cup 2023 after only five matches, has been included in A grade.