'Still don't know what was going on in Ishan, Iyer's heads': Harbhajan outlines brighter side to BCCI contracts row

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Harbhajan Singh had his say on the BCCI contract saga pertaining to Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer

It has been over a fortnight since the BCCI took the unprecedented step of removing two of their top cricketers, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan, from the annual retains for the 2023/24 season after they blatantly disregarded the board's order to participate in the Ranji Trophy season during their time away from national duty. And with neither of the players coming forward to speak on the subject openly, the speculation on their act remains, leaving many curious. India legend Harbhajan Singh is among them.

Harbhajan Singh backed Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer to make a strong comeback to the Indian side.

Ishan last played for India in November 2023, in a T20I game against Australia at home, before reportedly taking a mental-health break before the start of the South Africa Test series in December. While questions were raised in media on how and whether Ishan could make a comeback to the Indian side amid the competition for the wicketkeeping spot across formats, he was spotted training with Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya in Baroda which left selectors and other BCCI officials irked, with the act implying that the India star was more interested in gearing up for the IPL then spending his time with the domestic side and helping them out in their forgettable Ranji Trophy run.

Simultaneously, Iyer was dropped from the Indian Test side after a poor run of form. He had reportedly suffered a back spasm and hence skipped Mumbai's quarterfinal match in February. However, the NCA had declared him fit to participate. He was later spotted at Kolkata Knight Riders' camp in Mumbai, which also left BCCI selectors vexed amid their repeated order for all centrally-contracted player to participate in domestic cricket when not on national duty.

Speaking to Hindustan Times on the sidelines of the Legends Cricket Trophy in Sri Lanka, Harbhajan admitted that while he remains eager to know why Iyer and Ishan turned a blind eye to BCCI's orders, he labelled it as a "learning curve", backing both to make a strong return to the Indian side.

"It's a learning step for them. Whatever step was taken was for their betterment, that is how they should take it. I look at this in a rather constructive way because from hereon, I feel they could emerge as better players. But we still do not know what was going on in their heads. They are both brilliant cricketers and I feel they will win a lot of matches for India in the future," he said.

Iyer did return to the Ranji Trophy action later, playing both in the semis and the final for Mumbai, where he scored a match-winning 95 in the second innings of the summit clash against Vidarbha. Ishan missed the opportunity as his side Jharkhand suffered a group-stage exit. However, he did make an appearance in the DY Patil T20 tournament in Mumbai.

When asked if the two should be in the fray for selection in India's next Test series - at home against Bangladesh in September and tour of Australia in November - with the Ranji Trophy tournament over, Harbhajan said: "Every player is 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, it doesn't mean it's the end of the road for them."