The BCCI central contracts for the 2023-24 season has created quite a stir in Indian cricket over the last 10 days. Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan lost their contracts after both missed the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.
The board had sent a letter warning centrally-contracted players to not prioritise Indian Premier League (IPL) over domestic cricket, but the two turned a blind eye to the diktat, resulting in BCCI taking an unprecedented step, thus setting an example in Indian cricket.
Former India cricketers and experts of the game backed BCCI call, while media reports put up various aspects of the contract saga, providing inside details on the build-up to the decision to Iyer and Ishan’s perspective from those in close contact with the two players. But all have been a mere speculation.
Speaking to Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the newly-announced Legends Cricket Trophy in Sri Lanka, a 90-ball format featuring yesteryear stars, former India cricketer Robin Uthappa called for end of speculations, saying that it’s time for hear the actual truth from Iyer andthem, indicating India skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid.
“I think we as individuals and as perhaps today, I see myself on your side of the table as well. As a broadcaster, I also want to know answers.
I also like to know what the truth is. Having said that, we won’t know what the truth is, unless it’s spoken by the stakeholders of this piece, and that is the players themselves and the ones involved with the players themselves, and that’s the captain, the coaches, support staff.
And I think we’ll only keep speculating about all of it until we hear from these players in particular or from the selectors in particular. And I think we can all speculate as much as we want. But for me, I would like to reserve till I actually know for sure what’s happened and what transpired it,” he said.