At 90-4, Mumbai were in trouble on the first day of their Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Baroda. The cream of their batting — Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Shams Mulani– was gone and the responsibility fell on young Musheer Khan to get his team out of the woods. The 18-year-old was making a comeback to the first-class fold after more than a year’s gap. It was only his fourth game at this level. At stumps on Day 1, Musheer was unbeaten on 128, with Mumbai finishing the day on 248-5.
The youngster, Sarfaraz Khan’s brother, made a serious impression at the U-19 World Cup in South Africa, where he scored 360 runs in seven matches, including two hundreds. But this was first-class cricket and a knockout fixture. Musheer was game-ready. Had Shreyas Iyer been playing, Musheer might not be in the XI. Iyer’s (back) pain proved to be Musheer and Mumbai’s gain.
Iyer’s has been a curious case though. On Friday, a leaked video went viral on social media where the middle-order batter, who has been dropped for the last three Tests against England, was doing an IPL promo shoot. “Aare kaisa dhoti hai, aysa toh hum nahi pahenta hai (what type of dhoti is this? We don’t wear this type),” the video captured him saying to his stylist/costume expert. “Hope, there will be no slip-ups,” he added, trying to manage the dhoti, Bengali style. Iyer looked to be already in the IPL mode.
He was supposed to play the Ranji quarter-final against Baroda. But Iyer reportedly pulled out, citing back pain. Close on its heels, however, came the email from Nitin Patel, the head of sports science and medicine at the National Cricket Academy, that declared the player as “fit”. So, on the face of it, Iyer has snubbed the Ranji Trophy, notwithstanding the directive from BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
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Only a few days ago, Shah directed all centrally contracted players to play red-ball domestic cricket, unless they are playing for India or doing their rehab at the NCA. “I have already informed everyone over the phone and will write a letter tomorrow; if the chairman of the selection committee, your captain and your coach ask you to play red-ball domestic cricket, you have to play it. We will not take any excuse from the young players who are fit, who can take the rigours of multi-day cricket,” he told reporters.
The BCCI secretary added: “I won’t single out anyone. This is a message to everybody. Everybody has to play. Else, the chairman of selectors has the freehand to take a call.” Shah subsequently wrote the letter.
And yet, there’s defiance. Not only from Iyer, but also from a few others, including Ishan Kishan. The wicketkeeper-batter had returned from India’s tour of South Africa for reasons not related to cricket. He has gone AWOL since. He hasn’t featured in any of Jharkhand’s Ranji matches this season and some reports suggest that the 25-year-old is spending time at Kiran More’s academy in Baroda and he is gearing up for an office T20 league as part of his preparation for the IPL.
The BCCI must have taken note and it is said that Iyer and Kishan might lose their central contracts for ignoring the cricket board’s diktat. Both are young men, and in Kishan’s case, there have been reports of mental fatigue. These are delicate issues that must be dealt with care. At the same time, the players ostensibly are keeping proper communication and transparency at arm’s length and their action so far has reeked of a disregard for the Ranji Trophy.
The BCCI is a cricketer-friendly organisation. It considers every player’s case with compassion and the cricket board is not vindictive. But proper action becomes the need of the hour when a line is crossed, else it can send the wrong message and set a bad precedent. If Iyer and Kishan, for example, are happy with their IPL contracts and don’t want to go through the grind of domestic cricket, then that’s their choice. For the BCCI’s part, disregarding India’s premier domestic tournament should act as a deterrent to the national team selection, in any format.
Shreyas Iyer caught off guard at the Star Sports IPL film shoot. pic.twitter.com/E5qkk2HeLL
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 23, 2024