'Can't practice with KKR...' - Brad Hogg namedrops Virat Kohli as he blasts Shreyas Iyer for skipping Ranji Trophy

Former Australia National Cricket Team spinner Brad Hogg has bashed the India National Cricket Team star batsman Shreyas Iyer after his central contract snub for skipping the Ranji Trophy and practicing with his Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Iyer along with his teammate Ishan Kishan has become the talk of the town in the Indian cricket since the last few weeks. They have been in the news for all wrong reasons as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) punished them for not following their directives.

The BCCI had asked the duo of Iyer and Kishan to play for their respective states in the Ranji Trophy 2024. However, they ignored the BCCI’s directives as a result, they were removed from the central contract list.

Notably, Shreyas Iyer was recently part of India’s squad for the first two of the five Tests against England but was dropped following his poor performances while Ishan Kishan has not played for India since pulling out of the Test squad during the South Africa tour in December 2023.

Reports claimed that Shreyas Iyer was declared fit by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) but he said he was having problems and subsequently missed Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. Also, reportedly, he was training for the IPL with his KKR franchise during that period.

For Shreyas Iyer, you can’t be just going and practicing with your franchise – Brad Hogg

Former Australia cricketer Brad Hogg talked about this saga in his latest YouTube video. He slammed Shreyas Iyer for not giving enough respect to domestic cricket and opined that the batter should have joined the Mumbai squad for the Ranji Trophy after being dropped from the India squad.

“If you have time to play domestic cricket, you have to do that. For Iyer, you can’t be just going and practicing with your franchise as I have heard rumours that that has happened. You got to go back to the state team. If you’re not playing international cricket, you have to play state cricket unless you’re Virat Kohli who has played so much cricket around the year and really needs a break to rejuvenate.”

However, Shreyas Iyer later made himself available for the Ranji Trophy semi-final and played for the domestic heavyweights Mumbai. Although Mumbai comprehensively won the match, Iyer scored just 3 runs in Mumbai’s only innings.

In the video, Brad Hogg also talked about the appointment of Pat Cummins as the captain of the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He elaborated:

“The only thing about Pat Cummins coming and captaining the (SRH) team is that he hasn’t been able to be around the group for long. He has got to learn the franchise and I think it will be a transition period there. But I feel Cummins is strong and mature enough to counteract that. I think that’s going to be a good acquisition. He will do a lot of study before he goes out there and what will be the best combination.”

The likes of Cummins, Kishan, and Iyer will be seen in action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, which is set to begin on March 22.