Former India pacer Praveen Kumar opened up about Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan losing out the annual player retainership list for the 2023-24 season.
“Paisa kamao, kaun mana kar rha hai? Paisa kamane chahiye lekin aise bhi nahi hona chahiye ki aap domestic nahi khel rahe, country ko importance nahi de rahe. (Earn money, who is stopping you? But it shouldn’t be like you are not playing for the country or domestic cricket),” Praveen Kumar was quoted as saying by TOI.
“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chhorun (I will rest for a month before the IPL and then play. This happens because mentally you are not willing to let go of that much money). But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” Praveen Kumar added.
The 25-year-old Kishan did not turn up for Jharkhand throughout the team’s campaign in the Ranji Trophy despite not being on national duty since leaving from the tour of South Africa in December citing personal reasons. He has instead focussed on preparing for the Indian Premier League, which starts later this month.
Iyer, on the other hand, did not make himself available for Mumbai’s Ranji quarterfinal against Baroda after being excluded from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He, however, played in the Ranji semifinals starting, which Mumbai won against Tamil Nadu.
While announcing the central contracts, the BCCI once again advised all the Indian cricketers to play domestic games when not on national duty.
The exclusion of Iyer and Kishan can be seen as a stern message to young players unwilling to put in the hard yards in first-class cricket while chasing white-ball glory and lucrative IPL contracts.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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