Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has taken the right decision by terminating the central contracts of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer. The two players were not included in BCCI’s latest contract retention list for 2024.

In a massive call, BCCI excluded Iyer and Kishan from the annual retention contract list despite both of them featuring in India’s ODI World Cup campaign last year. Kishan last played for India in November 2023 while Iyer turned up for the national side in their second Test against England in Vizag.

Speaking to Revsports, Ganguly said BCCI’s decision on Kishan and Iyer was correct, insisting that contracted players are expected to play. Iyer was part of the Grade B contract while Kishan was in the Grade C list last season.

“BCCI wants them to play first-class cricket. I am suprised that Shreyas and Ishan haven’t played Ranji Trophy, a premier tournament. It’s a decision by the BCCI and what they was right. But, players must play first-class cricket,” said Ganguly.

“That’s wrong. You are supposed to play first-class cricket. Once you are a contracted player, you are expected to play. Shreyas Iyer is set to play for Bombay in the semi-final in a couple of day’s time,” Ganguly added.

He went on to say that Kishan surprised him and must play in domestic competitions. Kishan left the Indian team mid-tour in South Africa and did not play in the series against England either.

“They are young people. Ishan Kishan has surprised me. They are part of the Indian team in all formats, and also have such a big contract in the IPL. So I don’t know why he has done that,” Ganguly said.

“You must play, especially when you are as gifted as Ishan Kishan. When you are playing for India in all-formats, you must play. Yeah, BCCI has taken a strong stance and rightfully so. When you are contracted, you have to abide by the rules,” Ganguly added.

Ganguly said when he was playing, Ranji Trophy used to be the main tournament. Ganguly represented India in 113 Test matches and 311 ODIs but also played 254 first-class matches, scoring 15,687 runs.

“It was the main tournament. It was on the basis of Ranji Trophy that national team selections happened. Obviously, IPL was not there. IPL came at a later stage of my career, many of our careers. I think Ranji was the most important tournament,” said Ganguly.

While there are no updates on Kishan featuring in the Ranji Trophy, Iyer has been included in Mumbai’s squad for their semi-final against Tamil Nadu.