Why Aren't Indian Players Allowed to Play in Other T20 Leagues?

(Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni having a conversation together)

The Indian cricketers have only been seen by the fans performing across the Indian Premier League while not in the other T20 leagues being played around the world. This has definitely been a big question among the fans why the Indian players are missing out on the other T20 leagues but being a major part of the Indian Premier League? In this blog, fans will be able to know why the Indian cricketers can't play the other T20 leagues all over the world. This would also cover the instances where the other T20 league franchises approached the Indian cricketers to be a part of their team across the other T20 leagues.

How BCCI Stopped Indian Players from Participating in Foreign Leagues?

The Indian Premier League was reaching new levels of success in its initial stages when Cricket Australia also decided to bring out their own T20 league, named the Big Bash League. The director of the Cricket Australia board at that time talked with the BCCI about having at least one Indian cricketer to play for each team in the Big Bash League.

(CSK with the IPL 2023 trophy)

At this time when the Cricket Australia approached the BCCI for this, the Indian cricket board saw the various repercussions which could happen if the Indian players were performing for the other T20 leagues. Many of the officials even said that this would provide them with a higher media rights value, benefitting the other Cricket boards.

This could also lead to some serious outcomes for the Indian Premier League at that time, which had only hosted a few seasons. Therefore, the founders of IPL gave a recommendation to the BCCI that it should pass a resolution for the IPL players, that they won't be allowed to play in the other T20 leagues if they want to be a part of this tournament.

(Indian Men’s team at the T20 matches)

However, the BCCI made some changes to this resolution, allowing the Indian players to play in the T20 leagues for the Associate Cricket teams. The officials of the BCCI received several offers and proposals for the Indian players to play across the other T20 leagues, which was due to the interest of the other cricket boards in Indian cricket.

Moreover, it was the initial stages of the Indian Premier League and the main competitor was the Big Bash League, due to which the cricket board launched its no other league policy. Since then, several T20 leagues have emerged like SA20, ILT20, and various others, but the Indian players have not been able to participate in these tournaments if they want to play in the Indian Premier League.

(Ravindra Jadeja celebrating after taking a wicket in the T20 match)

This came out to be a positive for the IPL players as the IPL is the most popular cricket league of all time, providing the highest salary and tournament prizes to the players. Along with that, the players who belong to the top tier salary levels of the IPL would be less attracted to the other T20 leagues, as they would offer less salary to them as compared to the IPL.

Impact of The No Other League Policy on the Indian Players

The policy of No Other League has been beneficial for the Indian Premier League and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as Indian fans are able to watch their favourite Indian players perform only in the IPL. This has also resulted in higher sponsorship and title rights as the companies are willing to pay more to get themselves promoted in the biggest T20 league all over the world.

(Virat Kohli after Team India’s loss in the T20 World Cup 2016)

But it has been a disadvantage for the Indian cricketers when they are performing overseas in the T20 format. The major reason behind the same has been the lack of experience at the away pitches, which the other teams are able to get when they play in the Indian Premier League. Many of the legendary players have even said that this policy has been the reason why the Indian cricket team is unable to perform well in the ICC T20 World Cup tournament.

In the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup, the Indian team lost against England in the semis and various known players said that the major reason is that the England players also know about the Indian pitches, due to the IPL, but the Indian players won't be having much experience across the other foreign pitches.

(Team India at the ICC T20 World Cup 2022)

During the ICC T20 World Cup 2022, after India was knocked out of the tournament, fans started blaming BCCI’s no other league policy for the same. Rahul Dravid, the coach of the Indian Cricket team said that the rules have been made by the BCCI and there's nothing which can be done about it. He even said that the Indian players have missed a lot of opportunities to play at the foreign pitches due to this policy.

What Rahul Dravid said about Indian Players playing Other Leagues?

Rahul Dravid gave out several reasons behind which the Indian cricket players are unable to compete in the other T20 leagues. One of the major reasons which he stated was the time and schedule issues. He said that the time at which the other T20 leagues are being played across the world, most of the Indian players are playing in the domestic season, which is definitely important for them.

(Rahul Dravid in a post-match interview)

He also said that if the players were performing across the other T20 leagues, it would be a loss for the Indian domestic tournaments, as the Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy, and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy would attract fewer players than they used to.

Later Dravid went on to give an example of the scenario that took place recently in the West Indies cricket. Various players got themselves involved in several T20 leagues which resulted in a loss for the domestic tournaments and affected the team's performance at the international level. Dravid emphasised that he doesn't want this situation to take place for the Indian cricket team.