Irfan Pathan asked if he does not participate in red-ball cricket, shouldn’t he play white-ball cricket if not on national duty.
Mumbai: After the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) rolled out fresh contracts, it has been making headlines as two star cricketers – Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer – have been ripped off their contracts. Despite the BCCI cracking the whip hard, some are confused over how has Hardik Pandya retained a ‘Grade A’ contract. Questioning the BCCI over how Hardik still retained his contract, former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan asked if he does not participate in red-ball cricket, shouldn’t he play white-ball cricket if not on national duty.
As per an Indian Express report, Hardik has assured the BCCI that he will play white-ball domestic cricket if not playing for India. And this is what ensured he still holds onto his ‘Grade A’ contract. Hardik also got away in this situation because he has regularly been visiting the NCA.
Meanwhile, Kishan and Iyer’s snub from the contract list comes after the duo denied playing in the Ranji Trophy despite being fit, thus not respecting BCCI’s directive to play domestic cricket when not playing for the national team. In case of Pandya, he only plays in white-ball cricket for India. His last Test match for India was in 2017, while his last outing for state side Baroda was in 2018 in a Ranji Trophy match.
Unlike for Kishan and Iyer, what worked for Pandya is that he kept on reporting to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) from time to time whenever required. The 30-year-old was seen training at Vadodara recently before appearing in the corporate T20 league in Mumbai.