'I congratulate the BCCI': Kapil Dev praises national board for safeguarding domestic cricket

India’s former World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev praised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its actions to safeguard domestic cricket on Friday (Mar 1). According to the legendary player, the decision by the BCCI to mandate players to play in domestic cricket will only protect the sport. The BCCI recently announced the contracts for national team players with Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer missing out on having opted to stay away from domestic cricket despite being available.

Kapil Dev lauds BCCI

“I congratulate the BCCI for taking the much-needed step to protect the status of domestic cricket. I was sad to see domestic cricket being given the skip by players once they had established themselves in international cricket. It was high time the message was given and this strong step by the BCCI will go a long way in restoring the prestige of domestic cricket,” Dev said while speaking to news agency PTI.

“I have always believed in the process of international players making themselves available to play for their respective states. It helps them extend their support to domestic players. Also it is a nice way to pay back for the services rendered by the state association in grooming a player,” he added.

The BCCI on Wednesday made a bold statement by excluding both Ishan and Shreyas from the central contracts despite them being part of the World Cup squad as recently as November. However, both opting to stay away from national as well as domestic duties prompted BCCI to take strict action. According to the new mandate players contracted to BCCI will have to serve for the national side when called up or represent their domestic sides.

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What prompted BCCI to take action?

Ishan during the South Africa tour opted to miss the Test series having been down the pecking order in the Playing XI and was reportedly spotted in UAE at a party. Helater missed matches for his domestic side Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy despite being passed fit. His desire to focus on the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) and not show up for domestic duties did not augur well with the BCCI.

For Shreyas, he was part of the Indian team for the opening two Test matches against England but complained of back spasms. The National Cricket Academy (NCA) declared Shreyas fit, but he too like Ishan refrained from representing Mumbai or India.

It will be interesting to see how the players act with the eyes now on the T20 World Cup squad with Ishan being one of the first names on the team sheet. The BCCI will likely announce the World Cup squad in the second week of May with IPL in the focus.