The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday skilled allegations made by former South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs that it had been trying to stop him from playing the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) 2021, saying that the Indian board was “well within its rights” to try to anything within the best interest of its cricketing ecosystem.
Earlier within the day, Gibbs had accused BCCI Secretary Jay Shah of threatening to deny him entry into India if he participated within the upcoming KPL 2021.
Reacting to the event, the PCB had issued a press release that it might “raise this matter at the acceptable ICC forum and also reserves the proper to require any longer action that’s available to us within the ICC charter”.
Kashmir League is There and There is no power on Earth Who can Stop it,
— Haroon Shafique (@Shaikhooz) July 31, 2021
Responding to Gibbs and therefore the PCB, a BCCI official told Indian press agency ANI: “While one can neither confirm or deny the veracity of the statement made by a former player who has figured during a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) investigation into match-fixing earlier, the PCB must understand that albeit Gibb’s statement is assumed to be true, the BCCI would be within their rights to require decisions with reference to the cricketing ecosystem in India.
“The incontrovertible fact that the Indian cricketing ecosystem is that the most wanted for cricketing opportunities globally, shouldn’t be envied by the PCB.”
The BCCI official said the PCB was “confused” which allowing or disallowing anyone from playing cricket in India was “purely an indoor matter” and no different than the restriction on Pakistani-origin players from participating within the Indian Premier League.
On the PCB’s intent to require up the difficulty with the ICC, ANI quoted the official as saying: “They are welcome to boost the matter at the ICC and one can understand where this is often coming from but the question that they have to ask themselves is whether or not it’s on account of state interference in their working since the prime minister of Pakistan is officially their patron as per their own constitution. it’s time to think about whether this issue also needs to be raised at the ICC.”
The official rejected the PCB’s statement that the BCCI had “breached international norms and therefore the spirit of the gentleman’s game” and called upon it to look at the ICC’s definition of “official cricket”.
The Kashmir Premier League T20 2021 is that the first edition of the KPL. Of the six teams playing within the inaugural season, five teams are from Azad Kashmir while the sixth one is from outside the region.
The league is that the second T20 competition arranged by the PCB after the Pakistan Super League and is about to play from August 6-17 in Muzaffarabad.
