India legend Irfan Pathan on Thursday questioned BCCI’s rule on annual contracts after Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer have been excluded from the record over ignoring the Ranji Trophy regardless of a strict order from the board, whereas Hardik Pandya, who additionally didn’t play any matches in home cricket throughout the thought of interval, was retained. The former all-rounder’s argument was, nevertheless, challenged by his ex-teammate Aakash Chopra, who defined why the 2 situations should not be in contrast.
Irfan Pathan had questioned BCCI contract rule pertaining to Hardik Pandya
“They are talented cricketers, both Shreyas and Ishan. Hoping they bounce back and come back stronger. If players like Hardik don’t want to play red-ball cricket, should he and others like him participate in white-ball domestic cricket when they aren’t on national duty? If this doesn’t apply to all, then Indian cricket won’t achieve the desired results!” Pathan posted after BCCI revealed the annual retainership for the 2023-24 season.
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Ishan, who reportedly took a psychological well being break earlier than the beginning of the South Africa Test collection, was beforehand in Grade C, whereas Iyer, who was dropped from the Indian Test facet final month after a poor run of type, was in Grade B. Both misplaced their contracts, however Hardik was included in Grade A.
Speaking on YouTube, Chopra defined that Hardik shouldn’t be punished for not taking part in first-class cricket as his physique will not enable him to undergo the rigours of the normal format. Hardik’s final look in red-ball cricket was in 2018.
“Hardik Pandya’s case is very simple. Why would you punish him if he has not made a mistake? He is not playing red-ball cricket. That ambition or aspiration does not exist anymore. He has not said that as such, but the truth is that he is not available at all for any Test series. So if you are not at all auditioning for Tests, no one will ask you to play first-class cricket. Why would you play four-day games when you don’t have that much strength in your body to bowl so many overs and have injury problems? So why should he play – fair play,” he stated.
Chopra defined why Hardik didn’t take part even within the white-ball home tournaments within the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy. Reminding critics of the chronology of occasions, the previous India opener stated that the all-rounder had injured himself in October throughout the ODI World Cup final 12 months, which was across the similar time when the home T20 event ended whereas the ultimate match performed by Baroda within the List A occasion was in December, when Hardik was nonetheless recovering from his ankle damage.
“Let’s try to understand the chronology slightly. It will just clear up your mind why a different rule has been kept for him and why it is wrong to include him with Ishan and Shreyas. He got injured during the World Cup, that was October-November. The Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy was over in October-November. He was playing the World Cup for India at that time. The last match that Baroda played in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was on 5th December. “He was not match and obtainable. He wasn’t working towards anyplace however was recovering from his damage within the NCA,” Chopra defined.
Hardik has, nevertheless, reportedly vowed to be a part of home white-ball occasions when away from nationwide obligation.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
