BCCI to get tough with player missing domestic red-ball cricket

Rajkot: In a bid to clamp down on the instances of Indian players avoiding domestic red-ball, the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s secretary Jay Shah issued a diktat, saying all players centrally contracted by the parent body have to mandatorily play without excuses. 

“They have been informed over the phone already and I’m going to write letters as well that if your chairman of selectors, your coach and your captain are asking for it then you will have to play red-ball cricket,” Shah told journalists on the sidelines of an event in Rajkot. 

The statement comes at a time when Ishan Kishan has been in the spotlight for refusing to turn up for Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy despite being told by the BCCI to do so. 

Shah alluded to Kishan during the interaction but brushed past the southpaw’s name quickly, adding that the announcement was not targeted towards him, rather, the rule would apply to all the cricketers who are not part of the national team. 

When asked about if there will be some exceptions made, he said: “Whatever advice we get from the NCA - say suppose somebody’s body is not able to handle both white-ball and red-ball cricket - so we do not want to impose anything in that regard. 

“(It applies to) whoever is fit and young - we are not going to tolerate any other tantrums. This message is for all centrally contracted players. Everyone will has to play, otherwise, the chairman of the selection committee (Ajit Agarkar) has given me his suggestions and I am going to give him a free hand to let him take his own calls freely.” 

Drifting into the topic of Viral Kohli and his absence from the ongoing five-Test series against England, Shah opined that the Indian ace has deserved this break. 

“If somebody is asking for a personal leave in 15 years then it is his right to ask for it. Virat is not that kind of a player that he would ask for a leave without any reason. We must back and trust our players,” he insisted. 

That said he didn’t provide any clarity regarding his participation in the Twenty20 World Cup.