Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has supported Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer after the two lost their central contracts. Last month, the BCCI announced the list of centrally contracted players and neither Kishan nor Iyer were part of the 30-man list.

Kishan had a C Grade while Iyer was in B Grade. The BCCI took the big decision after both the players ignored their directive to play in the Ranji Trophy. In its press release for the central contract, the board stated that Iyer and Kishan “were not considered for annual contracts in this round of recommendations.”

The BCCI also reiterated its stance on domestic cricket, stating that “all athletes give priority to participating in domestic cricket during periods when they are not representing the national team.” The BCCI’s decision has divided opinions in the cricket fraternity. While many believe the board was right to take action against the players for not giving importance to domestic cricket, many believe the decision was harsh.

Harbhajan Singh on BCCI’s decision regarding Indian cricketers:

Harbhajan Singh also shared his opinion on the entire episode. The former India player stated that while losing central contracts is not the end of the road for both the players, he predicted that the future will be difficult for the duo. The Indian great also said that all the players are available for selection.

“All players are available for the selection process. Now, whether they will be selected is a different aspect because it depends on their form and whether the team requires their services. Just because they didn’t get a contract doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for them,” Harbhajan Singh told Hindustan Times.

Speaking further, Harbhajan Singh urged Iyer and Kishan to learn from the entire episode and backed them to emerge as better players. At the same time, the former cricketer also expressed shock over the way Iyer and Kishan behaved, which made them lose the central contracts.

“It is a learning step for them. Whatever steps were taken were for their improvement, that’s how they should do it. I see this in a quite constructive way because from now on I feel that they could emerge as better players. But we still don’t know what was going through their heads. Both of them are brilliant cricketers and I think they will win many matches for India in the future,” Harbhajan said while highlighting the case of Iyer and Kishan.