Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Chandrakant Pandit feels Shreyas Iyer will not be affected by BCCI contract snub. Iyer was part of the Grade B list last season but could not find a place in the latest contract list of 30 players for the 2023-24 season.

Iyer was dropped from India’s Test squad after he complained of back trouble. The right-hander didn’t turn up to play for Mumbai in the Ranji trophy quarterfinal citing back issues even though the BCCI medical team declared him fit.

Meanwhile, Iyer had missed the previous season of the Indian Premier League due to a back injury and Nitish Rana had led in his place.

“I will not say Shreyas must be included in a certain Grade, but he is definitely a player who can serve India in any format. He has had an injury issue, but it was solved. He is a good performer and even scored a century [105 against New Zealand in 2021 at Kanpur] on Test debut. In our future series, there may be some players who will not be in form, so naturally, Shreyas will be there. He will play domestic cricket and can perform in the IPL. He is going to be useful for Indian cricket in any format,” Pandit said in an interview with Mid Day.

Pandit shared his surprise that Iyer was not included in the list of contracted players by the BCCI. It has been reported that the Ajit Agarkar selection panel was not pleased that Iyer was at Kolkata Knight Riders’ pre-season camp when missing the match for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer will play the semifinal fixture against Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, starting March 2.

Iyer will lead KKR in the upcoming IPL and he will look to prove his mettle. KKR will begin their campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on March 23.