The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is miffed with players ignoring directives. With Ishan Kishan being the prime example, the BCCI is mulling making it mandatory for Indian cricketers to play Ranji Trophy to qualify for the Indian Premier League.
As per a PTI report, BCCI wants to rein in such rebellious players. A senior BCCI official said that the board could make playing 3-4 Ranji Trophy matches mandatory to qualify for the IPL auction or IPL. This would only apply to centrally contracted players.
“The decision-makers in BCCI are well aware that some players don’t want to play any red ball cricket. If they are out of the Indian team, they would at best play a few Mushtaq Ali T20 games and then not report for state team duty during red ball season. To rein in such players, board in all likelihood will make it mandatory to play 3-4 Ranji Trophy games, failing which, they can’t play IPL or even appear in IPL auction if released by their franchise,” PTI quoted a senior BCCI official as saying.
Latest on IPL 2024
Ishan Kishan fiasco
Despite repeated requests from the India team management, head coach Rahul Dravid and even the BCCI, Ishan Kishan has not played Ranji Trophy 2024.
Ishan Kishan pulled out of the South Africa tour citing travel fatigue. However, he appeared on a Reality TV show. Instead of playing Ranji Trophy for Jharkhand, Ishan went to Baroda to practise with Hardik Pandya at the Kiran More Academy with an aim to return to IPL 2024.
But Jharkhand could not do much as he is a centrally contracted player.
“The state units feel unless the diktat comes from the top of BCCI, some of the young stars will treat the Ranji Trophy with disdain. Some of the other youngsters, whenever you call them, will cite that they are currently doing physio work. There needs to be a stop somewhere,” the BCCI official said.
Editors pick
