The Pakistan Cricket Board, popularly known as PCB, has recently shown its disappointment over BCCI trying to prevent international players from taking a part in the upcoming Kashmir Premier League 2021. The PCB has claimed that BCCI is basically trying to make sure retired players from different countries do not take part in the upcoming KPL.
Kashmir Premier League
For those who don’t know, the Kashmir Premier League is an upcoming cricket league that will feature a total of six teams. Although the league will be managed and funded by private businessmen, the league has received the approval of the government and the PCB. All the six teams are named after cities in the Kashmir region, that include:
- Kotli
- Mirpur
- Bagh
- Muzzafarabad
- Rawalakot
- And another team that is of overseas players.
Last month, the draft process was done through which Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Muhammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, and Karman Akmal were chosen as the respective captains of the six teams. We also saw international players getting signed up for different teams, such as Tino Best, Monty Panesar, Matt Prior, and more. At the moment, the series is scheduled to begin on August 6 at the Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium and will conclude on the 17th of the same month. However, the BCCI is currently trying to ruin the series.
PCB Reacts To BCCI’s Actions
Recently, the KPL management received some crucial information from a player agent in England that the BCCI contacted the ECB and Cricket South Africa and told them to not let their players participate in the Kashmir Premier League. Because if they do, then they won’t be allowed to enter India in the future, meaning that they won’t be able to participate in the IPL and other leagues held in the country.
Herschelle Gibbs also recently made a tweet in which he claimed that BCCI is trying to prevent him from participating in the Kashmir Premier League 2021 and that they are threatening him of not letting him enter India for cricket related work in the future.
PCB Issues A Statement
Seeing that India was interfering in their country’s league, PCB was quick to issue a statement in which they claimed that the BCCI has brought the “game into disrepute” by calling different cricket boards and asking them to withdraw their players from the KPL. The organization further added that such conduct from the BCCI is not acceptable for them and that it is against the “spirit of the cricket.” PCB is currently planning to raise this matter in the suitable ICC forum and will take the necessary actions against the BCCI.
The KPL will kick off in a few days, on August 6. At the moment, no foreign player has confirmed that they are going to follow what the BCCI has suggested. However, as we get close to the date, we might see some players backing off from the league over concerns of not entering India ever again. Only time will tell whether BCCI’s threats will work or not.