Irfan Pathan becomes first Indian to sign up for CPL 2019 draft
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In a path-breaking move, Irfan Pathan has decided to sign up for the Caribbean Premier League 2019 draft which will take place on Wednesday at the Gfinity eSports Arena in London. However, his eventual participation will depend on the BCCI’s approval and the No Objection Certificate.
The players' draft for CPL 2019 was announced on Thursday and it is going to be huge for the tournament organisers as a record number of 536 players from 20 countries have made themselves available to play in the tournament. Pathan has also signed up for the draft and if picked up by any franchise, the former Indian pacer will become the first Indian cricketer to play in an overseas T20 league, which will be subject to clearance from the BCCI.
As a matter of fact, BCCI has always been opposed to the idea of Indian players participating in overseas T20 leagues and in the past, a lot of requests to grant permission has fallen on deaf ears. Irfan has not featured in the Indian Premier League in the last two editions with his most recent appearance coming for the now-defunct Gujarat Lions in the 2017 campaign, but if he would be allowed the permission is very difficult to assume.
Two years ago, Irfan's elder brother Yusuf Pathan could not play in the Hong Kong T20 League after failing to get a NOC from BCCI.
