Jay Shah Opens Up On 'Harsh Decisions' That Push Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan Play Domestic Cricket

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah recently opened up on some harsh and much-needed decisions that he made for the betterment of Indian cricket. Talking to the media, Shah said that his call to make it mandatory for all the centrally contracted players, physically fit and not selected in the national duty for any format, should participate in domestic cricket leagues to upgrade the standards of cricket and level continuously.

Recently, the BCCI announced squads for the Duleep Trophy, in which, many star players including Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer will be participating. Ishan Kishan earlier faced the cricket body's fury for giving priority to franchise cricket over domestic cricket.

"If you look Duleep Trophy squad, apart from Rohit and Virat rest are going to play. It's because of the harsh steps I have taken, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan are playing Duleep Trophy," Jay Shah said.

The BCCI secretary added that "Board had been little strict. When Ravindra Jadeja got injured, I was the one who called him and asked him to play a domestic game. It's certain now, whoever gets injured and goes out, can only come into the Indian team after proving his fitness in domestic cricket."

He further added that selectors understand the workload and stress on players, so many senior players namely Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumra have been rested. However, most of the players have been asked to participate in the domestic leagues.

"It doesn't make sense to add to Virat and Rohit's load by asking them to play domestic cricket. They run the risk of getting injured. You also need to look at England and Australia. None of their top players play domestic cricket. We must treat our players respectfully and not treat them like servants," said the BCCI secretary.

Team India is scheduled to play a two-match Test series against Bangladesh starting September 19, 2024.