BCCI yet to reach a decision on retired players for T20 leagues abroad

For representational purpose.

The apex council of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has failed to reach a consensus on retired players’ participation in overseas T20 leagues and left it to office-bearers to take a call.

BCCI Secretary Jay Shah said the board will come out with a policy to prevent the trend of pre-determined retirements. “Once the policy is decided in a month or so, we will send it back to the apex council for approval,” he said.

Media reports mentioned about talks about one-year cooling-off period before a retired player is allowed to be part of such leagues.

Pathan brothers, Yusuf and Irfan, pacers S Sreenath and Stuart Binny, and wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel will be playing the Zim Afro T10 league starting from July 20. Ambati Rayudu will be part of Major League Cricket (MLC) in the US. He had announced his retirement from the IPL after the 2023 final, and will now be playing for Texas Super Kings in the MLC.

The BCCI now protects its active players from participating in T20 leagues abroad.

The cricket regulator has also decided that the impact player rule of IPL 2023 will be extended to domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy. The teams will have to select their playing XI along with four substitute players before the toss and the teams can use the impact player at any time during the match. In the previous season of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a team could only use the impact player before the 14th over of an innings, the BCCI said in a release. It has decided to introduce two bouncers per over in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

The BCCI apex council has approved the participation of men’s and women’s teams in the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, in September-October.

With the ICC ODI World Cup clashing with the Asian Games, the BCCI will select from the players not participating in the World Cup to play in the Games.