Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has urged the BCCI to take strict action against overseas players who come to play the IPL and later feign injuries to return home. He also said that the cash-rich T20 league was making “some really ordinary overseas players millionaires”.

According to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) rules for the Indian Premier League (IPL), a foreign player who enters the auction and is picked and later pulls out, would be banned for two years from the league.

Gavaskar lauds BCCI

Lauding the Indian cricket board for this move, Gavaskar also suggested that a similar action should be taken on those overseas players who feign injuries and return home after they are not picked regularly to play in the tournament.

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“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 Sports stars.

He said that many foreign players take the IPL for granted. “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.”

Cutting players’ fee

Gavaskar also said that foreign cricket boards get 10 per cent of the players’ fee, and it is an additional cost to the IPL franchises. He urged the BCCI to cut this according to the number of matches played by the cricketer.

“Remember, the boards get 10 per cent 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 said.

“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,” Gavaskar, who is part of the IPL’s TV commentary team, added.