 "Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer")
India cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid on Wednesday, January 6, termed the controversy of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) taking disciplinary actions against cricketers Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer being the reason for their non-selection in Team India for the Afghanistan T20s as fake news.
Dravid, while speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the first T20 international of the three-match series in Mohali, Punjab, said that while Ishan did not make himself available for selection due to personal reasons, Iyer could not fit the bill of T20 middle-order batter in the current Indian set-up.
“Media reports are not true - Ishan Kishan asked for the rest, he hasn't made himself available and Shreyas Iyer missed out due to lots of batters in the mix - no disciplinary actions, these are fake,” Dravid said in the press conference which was broadcast live on Jiocinema.
Earlier, various Indian media outlets had published news of the BCCI taking disciplinary action against Ishan and Iyer. The reason given for action against Ishan was him partying in Dubai while taking leave from the Indian team ahead of the two-match Test series against South Africa.
Dravid in the pre-match presser also informed that Virat Kohli won’t be available for selection for the first match; therefore, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma are the two opening options that the management has locked in. However, nothing can be termed decided as of yet.
