India head coach Rahul Dravid gave a ray of hope to Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, who, about 10 days back, lost their BCCI contract after deciding to skip the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament. Dravid said that the two players remain in contention for a place in the Indian team, with the door open for the two, while advising them to force selectors to pick them again after performing in domestic cricket.

Ishan and Iyer were both dropped from the BCCI’s annual retainers for the 2023/24 season with the board explaining that “all athletes give precedence to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team”.

Ishan hasn’t played for India since taking a break from cricket, reportedly due to mental health, before the start of the two-match Test series in South Africa. He was later spotted training with Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda.

Iyer, on the other hand, was dropped from the Indian team after the second Test against England. He then missed the quarterfinal match for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy due to back spasm, although he was reportedlt declared fit by NCA. Iyer, however, did feature in the semifinal match against Tamil Nadu and is slated to play the final against Vidarbha on Sunday.

“They’re always in the mix,” Dravid said after India’s 4-1 series win against England in Dharmsala. “Everyone who’s playing domestic cricket is in the mix. Firstly, I don’t decide contracts, right? Contracts are decided by the selectors and the board. I don’t even know what the criteria are. I’m involved in – people ask me my opinion on the 15, and me and Rohit select the XI. That’s how it works.

“We’ve never discussed whether somebody has a contract or not, whether he’s going to be selected in the 15. There are enough examples of people playing different formats of the game, whether they have contracts or not.

“I don’t even know sometimes what the list of the contracted players is, when we take these decisions, discussions on the 15 or the playing 11 for that matter. No one’s out of the picture, no one’s out of the mix, it’s just a question of hopefully them getting back and fit, playing cricket, and forcing the selectors to pick them again.”

Ishan and Iyer will next feature in the 2024 season of the IPL where they will look to put on a clinical show to make the T20 World Cup squad for India.