It was Ajit Agarkar's decision to drop Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer from central contracts list: Jay Shah

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah stated that he had no role to play in leaving out Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan from the list of centrally-contracted players. Shah revealed that the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar took the bold call.

Talented Indian cricketers - Iyer and Kishan skipped Ranji Trophy matches for their respective domestic teams even after getting a directive from the BCCI. This didn't sit well with the governing body and they were subsequently excluded from the central contracts in February. While Kishan went on a long break after the T20I series at home against Australia in November last year, Iyer joined his domestic team, Mumbai, and played a few games, including the semi-finals and the finals. However, the right-handed batter landed in hot water after he attended a Kolkata Knight Riders camp in Mumbai when his domestic side was busy playing a Ranji Trophy encounter.

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Shah said that Agarkar solely decided to leave Iyer and Kishan from the central contracts list and he only implemented the call. The 35-year-old stated that no one in the team is indispensable and domestic cricket needs to be prioritized as much as possible.

"You can check the constitution. I am just a convener (of the selection meeting)," he said during a media interaction at the BCCI head office on Thursday. That decision lies with Ajit Agarkar, even when these two players (Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer) who did not play domestic (cricket), the decision to drop them (from the central contracts list) was only his," Shah was quoted as saying by NDTV Sports.

"My role is just to implement. And we have got new players (in place), like Sanju (Samson). Nobody is indispensable," he added.

Shah also mentioned that he had spoken to Iyer and Kishan after they didn't get central contracts. He also revealed that Hardik Pandya has expressed interest in playing domestic white-ball tournaments in the future.

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"Yes, I had spoken with them. Media had even carried the reports. Even Hardik (Pandya) said if BCCI is considering me for white-ball, then I am ready to play Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Any player will have to play, even if they do not want to, they will have to," Shah added.