Rahul Dravid gives shout out to BCCI selectors days after Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer left out of central contracts

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After India defeated England by an innings and 64 runs on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test match in Dharamsala, head coach Rahul Dravid praised Ajit Agarkar-led BCCI's selection. India, who were without their key players Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Mohammed Shami, won the five-Test series by a 4-1 margin.

Ravindra Jadeja also missed a match due to injury, while Jasprit Bumrah was rested from the fourth Test match in Ranchi. However, India's young debutants kept on delivering for India. Dravid hailed the BCCI selectors for picking the right domestic talents.

"And also, I'd just like to give a big shout out to [chief selector] Ajit [Agarkar] and his team as well. A lot of the youngsters that come in, honestly, as a coach and as a captain, we don't actually get to see them because we don't see as much domestic cricket as Ajit and his team of selectors do," Dravid told broadcasters JioCinema after the match.

"And they've pushed us and they've challenged us to pick some of these young players and they've picked the right ones and they've come out here and performed. So sometimes it's not easy being a selector because you always get the criticism but a big credit and a big pat on the back to Ajit and his team as well," he added.

Notably, the likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal and Akash Deep made stellar debuts for India in the series.

The statement from Dravid comes at a time when Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer have been axed from the BCCI's central contracts list. Ishan Kishan took a break during the South Africa tour, and later chose to train with his Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya, ignoring Ranji Trophy matches for Jharkhand.

Shreyas Iyer, on the other hand, skipped Ranji Trophy quarter-finals for Mumbai citing back issue despite NCA denying any fresh injury to him. However, he went to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Academy for practice. The same left BCCI and the selectors miffed.

Rahul Dravid praises Rohit Sharma's captaincy

Dravid also praised Rohit Sharma for beautifully leading a young team. "Rohit has been fantastic to work with. I think he's a terrific leader. And just the guys gravitate towards him phenomenally, which is fantastic to see," he said.