BCCI against ICC giving approvals for domestic matches in India

The domestic season in India is all set to get underway with the Duleep Trophy, which is scheduled to start on August 17 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Prior to the fixtures, the Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been involved in a bit of a tussle. The Indian cricket board is strongly opposed to the ICC giving approvals for domestic games.

The world’s richest cricket board doesn’t wish to go through the process of the ICC approvals with the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) being the focal point. It has also been learned that the apex cricket board has proposed a resolution, which says that an international cricketer will be capped to play in only one T20 league outside the league of his parent cricket board.

“The regulations put forward by the ICC suggest that all boards have to get a sanction for conducting their domestic tournaments – be it the IPL, Big Bash, the upcoming The Hundred or even the other domestic tournaments like the Ranji Trophy and other premier domestic tournaments. BCCI feels that ICC should have very little role in conducting domestic tournaments,” a top BCCI official was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

Capping of players in T20 leagues may lead to retirements

The official also didn’t mince any words in saying that the regulations haven’t gone down well with other cricket boards like Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Throwing more light on the matter, the official said that many active players may retire from international cricket after the capping laws are implemented in order to fulfil their financial needs.

The source exemplified Andre Russell, who was recently in the news for playing the Global Canada T20 instead of the T20I series against India. “It is felt that that capping of an international player would mean active players from countries which don’t offer strong contracts like BCCI, CA and ECB, would retire from international cricket,” the official added.

Back in 2018, the ICC had formed a working group to consider the granting sanctions to events and release of players. Reacting to BCCI’s apprehensions, the ICC stated that nothing has been decided as of now. “There is a working group — BCCI is a part of it — to consider how ICC can balance domestic and international cricket and also protect players.

The ICC is looking at putting in minimum standards for all T20 and domestic events to ensure there is an anti-corruption unit (ACU) / proper anti-doping facilities, players getting proper contracts and getting duly paid etc. Nothing has been decided yet. BCCI feels that IPL already does this and the ICC doesn’t dispute it,” an ICC source mentioned.

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