'In fact he gave a very good reply to that question' - Ravichandran Ashwin backs Rahul Dravid's statement on Indian players' participation in overseas leagues

Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has backed head coach Rahul Dravid’s opinion of not allowing Indian players to participate in overseas franchise leagues as it could hamper the Indian domestic circuit going forward. Giving further clarification on the same, he said that India’s domestic season clashes with the commencement of these overseas leagues.

Dravid had made this statement while addressing the media post India’s humiliating ten-wicket loss in the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinal against the eventual champions England. The former India skipper received a lot of criticism for making the statement.

It's a very unfair question to the coach of a cricket team: Ravichandran Ashwin

"They asked Rahul bhai (Rahul Dravid) in the press conference as soon as our game (T20 World Cup semi-final versus England) was over. You can't ask these questions as a reaction to losing a game. It's a very unfair question to the coach of a cricket team.

So what do you expect him to reply to that question? In fact, he gave a very good reply to that question. He asked, "If you want Indian player to go and players these leagues what will happen to our first-class system?,” said Ashwin while speaking on his YouTube channel.

"We should understand that the Indian first-class system will be behind from August end or by September end. It will be March when the Ranji trophy final gets over and we will have the IPL as soon as Ranji Trophy gets over,” he added.

"So if we don't play our first-class cricket, our sample size of players will come down. He felt it that way and replied beautifully. It is an interesting and debatable topic. In fact, many players from other countries have come to India and returned as better players," he added.

Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after a recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) had made it clear that no Indian male cricketer will be allowed to participate in foreign franchise leagues.

Nonetheless, it is to be noted that some of the high-profile Indian women’s cricketers like skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, batting sensation Smriti Mandhana have been granted permission to play in the overseas tournaments like the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), The Hundred Women’s, among others.