Shreyas Iyer's Central Contract Revived; Category A Allotted
Table of Contents
Former Pakistani Cricketer labels Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami as Category A cricketers had they been playing in Pakista,n and shows disappointment as well as astonishment at the snub of these players from the Asia Cup.
Shreyas Iyer ended as the sixth-highest scorer in the last season of the IPL, as he had his best season in the IPL, scoring 604 runs across 17 matches with an average of 50.33 while maintaining an amazing strike rate of 175.07. He also scored six fifties in the IPL and led the Punjab Kings to the finals of the IPL.
However, despite his dominance in the IPL and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he dominated as the skipper of the Mumbai side, Iyer could not make way for a comeback into the Indian T20I side for the Asia Cup.
Basit Ali serves Category A PCB contracts to Shreyas Iyer after being snubbed from the Asia Cup
Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali has voiced his astonishment over the snub of players like Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami from the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup.
Like Iyer, who had shown promising form, Yashasvi Jaiswal has also been the backup opener in the T20 World Cup over Shubman Gill, but as of now, Gill has made his comeback, while Jaiswal has been kept on standby. The left-handed batter has 723 runs in 23 T20Is with a strike rate of 164 and a hundred in his career. He also backed himself with a stunning 559 runs in the IPL.
"Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami agar Pakistan mein hote na ye log A category mey hote (These would have been in Pakistan's A category)," Basit Ali told Kamran Akmal on a YouTube show, "Game Time."
"Iyer ke saad jyadati ho gayi hai. Unko team mey hona chahiye (It was unfortunate that Shreyas Iyer has not been picked)," he said.
PCB excluded all players from Category A in the latest central contract update
The Pakistan Cricket Board has also been under the grind for not having a single player registered under Category A of the PCB Central contracts. The central contracts have shown the omission of Category A from PCB-renewed contracts in the 2025-26 international season.
Even the likes of Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan have been demoted to Category B, which has not been received nicely by the senior players in the side, as they aim for release from the Central contracts after the insult. The PCB has, however, said that with improved performance, the contracts might also improve for the players.
Ali rules out Pakistan and Afghanistan and names this side as India's biggest opponent in the Asia Cup
The former Pakistan cricketer, Basit Ali, has pointed out that there is one team that could serve as the greatest challenge for the Indian team, and it's not Pakistan or World Cup semi-finalists Afghanistan.
"They have got a very explosive squad and I think only Sri Lanka can compete with him," Ali added. India will kick off their Asia Cup campaign on the 10th of September against the UAE, and the match against Pakistan has been scheduled for the 14th of September.
ALSO READ: Rohit Sharma picks to not go down without fighting, declares international comeback
Tagged:
Shreyas Iyer Mohammed Siraj Yashasvi Jaiswal Mohammed Shami India National Cricket Team Asia Cup PCB BCCI Basit Ali
