Ravichandran Ashwin believes that active, superstar-status Indian cricketers will not play in any overseas league for the foreseeable future, because the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) won’t
step back from its strict rules against such transfers.
The BCCI has never allowed contracted Indian players to participate in any overseas cricket leagues since the emergence of the IPL. Even non-contracted stars can’t do it unless they have taken retirement from all forms of Indian cricket. It serves to protect IPL’s market value as the only league where the most marketable cricketers play, perennially putting all the competition in the second tier and below.
Ashwin is currently playing in Major League Cricket in the USA, and last year became the first high-profile name to sign up for leagues like the ILT20 in the UAE and the Big Bash League in Australia, though neither plan worked out for different reasons.
“The honest answer is no,” Ashwin told the BBC when asked about whether Indian players will ever be allowed in The Hundred or other such tournaments. “Whether you agree to it or not, the economic model means a lot to the game, and the IPL is standing at the cusp of probably having a valuation that’s more than some of the other leagues. The IPL is able to retain the quality of players, local players especially, and Indian players are heavily marketable in the country. Enabling them to move on to another league, especially when they’re contracted to play for their country, I don’t think it’s going happen. But you will see one-off cricketers here and there who will turn up and play in some of these leagues,” he added.
Recently, Vijay Shankar retired from Indian cricket and immediately signed up for the Lanka Premier League, as is his right. However, soon after, reports broke that the BCCI was weighing a five-year cooling-off period to prevent players from supposedly taking early retirement to play overseas.
