Cricket News

‘His name is not there’ – Aakash Chopra gets surprised after seeing the annual contract list

On 28th February Indian Cricket Board released the annual contracts list of players for 2023-2024. The spotlight on the news came in as India wicket-keeper batter Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were not part of the contract list, while many other players were not part of the list. One of the names was Yuzvendra Chahal. Aakash Chopra revealed that he was surprised not to see his name in the central contract list for the years 2023-24.

“I am a bit surprised that Yuzi Chahal’s name is not there. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, and Shikhar Dhawan – their names not being there, I can understand. Even Deepak Hooda for that matter. But Chahal’s name not being there – what does that signify? It seems to indicate that the Indian Cricket Board are looking in a different direction. This is a validation of the theory. He might have had a ray of hope, but it wasn’t to be. His name is not there,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer removed

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were removed from the contract due to they didn’t play Ranji Trophy matches for their selective state teams. Even after a final warning by the Indian Cricket Board. Meanwhile, current India captain Rohit Sharma along with former India captain Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are placed in Grade A+.

Ishan Kishan left the Indian camp after India toured South Africa and didn’t show himself in any of the Ranji Trophy matches. Instead of playing Ranji Trophy matches he was seen doing training with Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya for IPL 2024. Shreyas Iyer was dropped from the national side after the second Test against England due to poor form of runs. Even though he was not part of the team he did not play for Mumbai in the quarterfinal against Baroda. Later he was added for the semi-final match against Tamil Nadu which will start from 2nd March.