BCCI Bars Players from Participating in IJPL
Sep 12, 2017 at 10:46 AM
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has told its member bodies not to allow the registered players to play in the unsanctioned Indian Junior Players League (IJPL), scheduled to be played from September 19-29 in Dubai.
According to PTI, BCCI’s acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary has written to the state associations, asking them to ‘advise registered players that they should not associate with the tournament.’
“Our attention has been drawn to the following tournaments. A) Indian Junior Players League (IJPL) B) Indian Junior Premier League. Please note that BCCI has not approved both these tournaments. You are requested to advise the registered players of your association that they should not associate with these tournaments,” he later stated.
A state official also said that any player who defies the BCCI’s orders will not only be de-rostered but will also be debarred from playing the board-accredited tournaments.
“We have a complete database of the registered U-19 and U-16 players. If anyone defies the BCCI diktat, he would be de-rostered immediately. Also, I don’t think any player who will be a part of this league can play any BCCI accredited tournaments (age-group tournaments like Cooch Behar Trophy, Vinoo Mankad Trophy or Vijay Merchant Trophy),” the official said.
Meanwhile, there are several prominent cricketers associated with the upcoming tournament. While World Cup-winning star Gautam Gambhir is the brand ambassador for the tournament, former South African batsman Jonty Rhodes and Windies star Kieron Pollard are two of the mentors.
The report further claimed that BCCI had not stopped Gambhir from associating with the unsanctioned tournament since the veteran batsman is not a centrally contracted player at the moment.
Gambhir has said he was delighted with his association with the tournament which will help the youngsters to showcase their talent.
“I am delighted to be part of the IJPL T20 which is a unique platform for youngsters in India to showcase their talent and get into the limelight during the conduct of the League. I take this opportunity to convey my best wishes to each of the 240 players,” Gambhir was quoted as saying in a press release during the launch of IJPL.