Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has urged the BCCI to take strict action against overseas players who deliberately cite injuries and withdraw from tournaments after failing to secure regular playing opportunities. He noted that some cricketers tend to take the IPL for granted and return to their home countries midway through the season to participate in domestic competitions.
Gavaskar emphasised that such actions are unfair to franchises, as finding suitable replacements at an advanced stage of the tournament is an extremely difficult task. He added that teams invest significant resources in assembling their squads and should not be left struggling due to the premature departure of overseas players.
“The BCCI’s ban for two years on those who enter the auction and, after being picked, then withdraw at the last moment, not for injury but brownie points with their local media, is another good move. They should also ban those who come to the IPL and, when they find they aren’t being picked regularly, feign an injury and return home and then play in their domestic cricket even while the IPL is still going on,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar.
“Plenty of overseas players take the IPL for granted and sometimes, in connivance with their boards, make some excuse and not play in the full tournament as they agreed before they entered the auction. The franchise cannot go running around for a replacement at this late hour, and so has no option but to wait for the Board to release the player,” he added.
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The former Indian captain further pointed out that foreign cricket boards receive a 10% commission on their players’ IPL earnings once they are bought at the auction. He suggested that players should be paid strictly in proportion to the number of matches they are available for during the tournament. Gavaskar also took a direct swipe at certain overseas cricketers, remarking that the IPL has often turned relatively ordinary players into millionaires.
“Remember, the boards get 10% of the player fee, not from the player. This is an additional cost to the franchise, and that is why it is important for BCCI to be firm and ensure this does not happen. Cutting the player’s fee according to the number of matches he is missing should also apply to the percentage that the overseas Boards get for their player,” Gavaskar wrote.
“The cricketing world has been ruled by the old powers without giving anything to the other Boards. Here, BCCI is giving to the Boards too, and so should be telling them not to take the helplessness of the franchise as a weakness and to cancel the contracts of those who don’t want to play the full tournament. No compromises. This is the IPL, not just the best T20 tournament in the world, but also the making of millionaires out of some really ordinary overseas players,” he concluded.
