Former India coach Ravi Shastri’s advice to Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer: ‘Chin up and come back even stronger. I have no doubt you’ll conquer once again’ | Cricket News

Former India coach Ravi Shastri is of the opinion that out of favour stars Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer will eventually find their way to the Indian team. Both cricketers on Wednesday was dropped from the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) annual contract l.
“In the game of cricket, comebacks define the spirit. Chin-up, @ShreyasIyer15 and @ishankishan51! Dig deep, face challenges, and come back even stronger. Your past achievements speak volumes, and I have no doubt you’ll conquer once again,” Shastri posted on X after the news of Ishan and Shreyas’s snub broke.
The news on Wednesday comes after the two players refused to turn up for their domestic sides despite BCCI secretary Jay Shah sending a strongly-worded letter to all the contracted players to feature in domestic cricket.
In a separate post, Shastri lauded the BCCI on creating a separate category for fast bowling contracts. “Big applause to @BCCI and @JayShah for the game-changing move with ‘fast bowling’ contracts. A crucial step in gearing up for Down Under later this year. The emphasis on Test Cricket and Domestic Cricket is a powerful message, setting the right tone for the future of our beloved sport!”
Missing out on the central contracts for both Kishan and Iyer couldn’t have come at a more crucial juncture in their careers, with a T20 World Cup less than four months away. The two had been part of India’s ODI World Cup squad last year, with Iyer having scored 500 plus runs in a campaign that saw India reach the final, only to lose to Australia.
The right-handed Mumbai batter had only last month donned India’s Test kit in Hyderabad against England before he was dropped from the national side owing to a string of poor outings in the shortest format of the game. As reported The Indian Express earlier, the case against Iyer’s exclusion was made stronger when earlier this month Iyer missed out on playing for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy quarterfinal, citing back and groin pain. Only for the BCCI medical team to suggest that they found nothing wrong with his fitness.
Kishan on the other hand, has been out of India’s squad since the tour of South Africa, which he had left midway through – requesting a break owing to mental fatigue. The swashbuckling keeper-batter has since not featured in the domestic circuit and played his first professional game since then on Tuesday in the DY Patil T20 Cup – as did Hardik Pandya since his World Cup injury – for RBI, scoring 19 off 12 deliveries.

Those in the know of things have told this daily that even if Shreyas and Ishan return to the team later this year and fulfill the pro-rata criteria (minimum of 3 Tests or 8 ODIs or 10 T20Is within the contract cycle), they won’t be considered for a contract. Instead, they would be paid only the match fee depending upon the format.