The ICC World Cup 2019 will be a month and a half away when the Indian Premier League (IPL) gets underway in March. With the ICC showpiece event scheduled from May 30, there were speculations that many Indian national team players could give the IPL a miss.
But Committee of Administrators (CoA) member and former India women’s team captain, Diana Edulji, confirmed on Tuesday that "all players" will be available for the franchise-based league. “It was cleared by the IPL COO (Hemang Amin). And hopefully, things will fall into place,” Edulji said.
Sharing the stage with Edulji after the auctions, Kolkata Knight Riders’ CEO, Venky Mysore, also revealed that during the franchise briefing on Monday, the teams were assured that all the national team players will feature for the entire duration of the tournament. “There is no limitation is what we have been told. Let’s hope it stays that way,” Mysore said.
Undercurrents
Even though the BCCI tried painting a happy picture, the undercurrents between BCCI officials and CoA did not go unnoticed. With Edulji present for the auction, BCCI office bearers took digs at the CoA on a few issues.
Talking to the reporters, BCCI treasurer, Anirudh Chaudhary, said that he would have ideally wanted the venue to be announced before the franchises went in for auction. "I would have also liked to see Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy happening before the IPL so that the franchises gor a better picture of the players," Chaudhary said.
Edulji said that conducting Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy before the auction was not possible due to a busy national and international schedule.
With no clarity on where IPL could be held, there were questions on whether the IPL deserves better treatment and Chaudhary agreed.
He, however, made it clear that with the CoA is handling things and office bearers don't have much of a role to play in the process.
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