English cricketers unlikely for cricket league in PoK: BCCI

The English cricketers are unlikely to be a part of the Kashmir Premier League (KPL). A BCCI official knowledgeable The Indian Express that they’ve been assured by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that their gamers wouldn’t be a part of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) promoted match in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) that begins on August 6.
“Yes, we have heard from the ECB that they aren’t releasing any player (for the PoK league),” a BCCI official advised The Indian Express. The Indian board is anticipating related responses from different boards additionally. This got here a day after the BCCI had expressed its opposition to the match in PoK, saying that it was following the federal government stand. “We have no problems with those playing the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but this is a league in PoK. We are toeing our government’s line,” a BCCI official had mentioned on Saturday.
The BCCI and ECB share a superb relationship which resulted within the former permitting centrally contracted girls cricketers to take part within the ongoing girls’s The Hundred competitors in England. It is learnt that talks are on between the 2 boards to permit just a few Indian males gamers to be a part of the boys’s The Hundred from the subsequent yr onwards. The BCCI, nevertheless, is but to take a call on this regard.

On Saturday, a high BCCI official confirmed that contacts have been made with all of the cricket boards. “We have informed all the boards not to allow their former players to take part in the Kashmir league. We have done this keeping national interests in mind,” he advised this paper.
The KPL can be performed with six franchises; 5 representing cities from PoK, whereas the sixth, Overseas Warriors, is reserved for abroad Kashmiris. The league’s launch noticed a heady mixture of Pakistani/PoK politicians and former Pakistan cricketers. Wasim Akram is KPL’s founding vice-president, whereas Shahid Afridi is the league’s model ambassador.
Former South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs, one of many accused within the 2000 match-fixing scandal, has signed as much as play for Overseas Warriors and he alleged that the BCCI is “trying to prevent” him from taking part in within the league. A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) assertion adopted, which mentioned that “the BCCI has brought the game into disrepute by issuing warnings to multiple ICC Members”. Pakistani politicians, too, waded into the difficulty. A BCCI official, nevertheless, dismissed the PCB assertion, saying: “We are not bothered about what statement PCB is putting out. We are mindful of Indian cricket and India.”