The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is thinking about making rules about how Indian players can play in games outside of India. Also, the Impact Player rule in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Twenty20 domestic game is going to be changed. On July 7, these issues will be some of the most important ones on the agenda for the board’s Apex Council Meeting.
There have been growing worries in the BCCI about Indian players playing in foreign leagues, especially after they retire, and about how T20 leagues are growing because Indian investors are putting extra money from the IPL into those leagues.
Cricadda has heard that players who want to play in foreign leagues like ILT20 in the UAE and Major League Cricket in the US will have to follow certain rules. It is expected that they will have to get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the board if they want to be involved in Indian cricket in any way, whether as a coach or not.
Yusuf Pathan and Robin Uthappa both played in ILT20 last year, and Ambati Rayudu joined MLC as soon as he said he was retiring from all forms of cricket after the IPL. With this in mind, the BCCI may also think about putting in place a rule for a cooling-off time in addition to making NOCs mandatory.
Also, the BCCI wants to change the rules for Impact Players in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy by adding terms like those in the Indian Premier League (IPL). At first, in the SMAT, you could only pick an Impact Player before the 16th over, but in the IPL, there were no limits. Also, the BCCI plans to let teams swap their team sheets after the toss, just like they do in the IPL. In the last version of the SMAT, states had to name 12 players before the coin toss, but this rule wasn’t there.
At the Apex Council Meeting, any changes that need to be made to this clause will be talked about and accepted. The BCCI thinks that the IPL’s “Impact Player” rule has a lot of promise and is likely to talk to the franchises before making any more changes or adding any new rules. But the IPL rules will be used for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali inter-state event in October and November, if the Apex Council gives its approval.
During the meeting, the council will also talk about whether Indian players should go to the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. A full-strength women’s team and a second-string men’s team are set to go to the Games from September 27 to October 8. If it happens, it will be the first time that cricket teams from India take part in the Asian Games.
The meeting will also talk about media and advertising rights, World Cup tour packages, stadium renovations, and the approval of contracts for both men and women players.
