World Cup Winner Captain Kapil Dev Reveals Few Players Will Not Like BCCI’s Domestic Cricket Mandate
On Friday, legendary former India captain Kapil Dev backed the BCCI's decision to terminate central contracts for a lack of commitment to domestic cricket, calling it a much-needed step to protect marquee first-class events like the Ranji Trophy. On Wednesday, both Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were excluded from the BCCI's central contracts after ignoring the board's diktat to play in the Ranji Trophy. The decision evoked mixed reactions, with some former players like Kirti Azad and Irfan Pathan backing the out-of-favor duo.
Kapil Dev said, "Yes, few players will suffer; kuch logon ko taqleef hogi, hone do lekin desh se badhkar koi nahi hai. Well done.”
The captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning side observed in his statement, "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.".
While announcing the central contracts, BCCI urged the players to give due importance to domestic competitions.