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How Hardik Pandya Escaped ‘Kishan-Iyer Treatment’: Insights into BCCI’s Discussions

Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are two of Group India’s best players, and their commitments were evident. In any case, when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) gave its yearly focal agreements on Wednesday, the batting pair was considered excess to needs. Iyer and Kishan were excluded from the 2023–2024 season’s 30-player list. Following the end of Kishan and Iyer’s BCCI contracts, previous Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan posted a captivating piece in which he raised curious circumstances, including all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

Iyer and Kishan did not receive contract extensions for refusing to play in the Ranji Trophy against BCCI’s orders. During the Ranji season, wicketkeeper-batter Kishan declined to play for Jharkhand. Iyer of Mumbai was not available for the quarterfinal match against Baroda since he was left out of the Indian Test team. Kishan’s teammate at the Mumbai Indians (MI), all-around player Pandya, was given a Grade A contract by the premier cricket board for the 2023–2024 campaign.

How did Hardik Pandya escape the ‘Kishan-Iyer treatment’?

Irfan implied in his controversial post that Pandya wasn’t evaluated using the same standards. Pandya, an all-rounder, only represents India in white-ball cricket. How then did Pandya evade the Kishan-Iyer therapy at the eleventh hour? In the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s and Vijay Hazare Trophy, Pandya will represent Baroda when he isn’t representing his nation, the Indian Express reported. Leading figures in the BCCI assert that Pandya will play domestically for Baroda as an all-rounder when he is not representing his country.

Also Read: Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s Defiance of BCCI’s Ranji Mandate Stings Sourav Ganguly: ‘Such a Big IPL Contract…

‘Playing the Ranji Trophy out of the equation for Pandya’

Pandya has been instructed to participate in domestic white-ball competitions when he is available after our conversations with him. Based on the evaluation of the BCCI medical experts, he is now deemed unfit to bowl in red-ball competitions. Thus, Pandya will not be participating in the Ranji Trophy. However, should he have no commitments to India, he must participate in other white-ball competitions. The official was cited as adding, “If not, he will miss out on a contract.”