The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) swung into action following BCCI’s mail on outstation cricketers’ participation in the upcoming TNPL.
The TNCA plans to have meetings on Monday and Tuesday before sending its reply to the Board.
“The player draft is only on June 23. So we have some time,” said an official to Sportstar .
The Board, in its letter, has indicated that the outstation players, as in the previous years across various Twenty20 leagues in the country, will not be allowed to play in the TNPL.
The TNCA plans to contest the Board’s stand. “The BCCI runs cricket in the country and the TNCA is a member association. We will put our point across forcefully while staying within the framework of the Board,” the official said.
He added, “The BCCI, in its letter, wanted to know whether all the cricketers who signed up for the TNPL come within TNCA’s jurisdiction. Our reply is that they do since all of them are part of the TNCA league.”
The official asked, “If Suresh Raina, who has signed up for Grand Slam in the TNCA first division league, is allowed to play for his club then why cannot he play in the TNPL. Both are tournaments conducted by the TNCA, except that one is televised and the other one isn’t.”
Indeed, accomplished cricketers over the years have represented various clubs in the TNCA first division league, among the best run competitions of its kind in the country.
The outstation players who have turned out for respective clubs in the TNCA first division league include some great names such as Rahul Dravid of Karnataka.
Just last year, Baroda’s Hardik Pandya, a current Indian star, played a game for second division club Swaraj CC.
And several ‘outstation’ internationals like Piyush Chawla, Jayant Yadav, and Sandeep Sharma have been playing in the on-going first division league.
The official said, “Don’t you see the contradiction here. All these outstation players can play the first division league in Tamil Nadu for their respective clubs but cannot turn out in the TNPL.”
The Board, on its part, might not want the IPL, its principal cash cow, to get diluted by having too many Twenty20 tournaments across the country with several Indian stars and players taking part in them.
But then, not all domestic cricketers get picked in the IPL squads. And if some of them want to play in these competitions in some other States within the country, the TNCA feels they should be allowed to do so to make a living out of the game.
Will this vexing question find an answer?
Comments
SHARE