Shreyas Iyer was expected to return when the BCCI made a Central Contracts list for the year 2024-25, and he, in fact, returned and secured a place in Grade B. However, there were many surprises for the inclusion of Ishan Kishan in Grade C since he hadn't played for India since 2023. Kishan has not done much in domestic cricket either; another emerging candidate could have easily occupied the slot. No doubt an immensely talented player, Kishan raises questions about his inclusion in the contracts list-thereby returning after being dropped last year-when he has hardly played an international game recently. Let us be direct. Kishan is not really in consideration for selection across formats- be it T20Is, ODIs, or Tests. In T20Is, Sanju Samson is always in contention, while Dhruv Jurel managed to impress one and all with his big hits in the IPL 2025. Jitesh Sharma is also in the mix. Besides, in case of any contingencies, India can always count on Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul. KL Rahul in the ODIs leads the race, whereas Pant comes next. At best, Kishan is a third-choice keeper. As far as Tests are concerned, it is clearly Pant's area, with Jurel also putting up a strong claim. So where exactly does Ishan Kishan fit into? Focusing on his latest statistics from domestic competitions: 161 runs across six matches during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at 32 average while 316 runs in seven fixtures in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with an average of 45 for the player. He has accumulated 138 runs in seven games in the current IPL season, which also features a century. If these stats were the basis for judgment, why not consider someone like Karun Nair? He was the highest run-scorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, shone in SMAT, and had a pretty good season in the Ranji Trophy. Surely, his consistent performance deserved more consideration. Also Read | ‘It’s a good sign for us’: Dhoni sees bright future in 17YO Ayush Mhatre Full List of BCCI Central Contracts 2024-25: Grade Player A+ Virat Kohli Ravindra Jadeja Rohit Sharma Jasprit Bumrah Grade A Rishabh Pant Mohammed Shami Mohammed Siraj KL Rahul Shubman Gill Hardik Pandya Grade B Suryakumar Yadav Kuldeep Yadav Axar Patel Shreyas Iyer Yashasvi Jaiswal Grade C Rinku Singh Tilak Varma Ruturaj Gaikwad Shivam Dube Ravi Bishnoi Washington Sundar Mukesh Kumar Sanju Samson Arshdeep Singh Prasidh Krishna Rajat Patidar Dhruv Jurel Sarfaraz Khan Nitish Kumar Reddy Ishan Kishan Abhishek Sharma Akash Deep Varun Chakravarthy Harshit Rana