International Cricket Council Has No Plans To Force IPL Franchises To Release Foreign Players For National Duties

Greg Barclay, chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), said the world cricket governing body has no intentions to make it essential for franchises to release international players for national duty.

Mustafizur Rahman, a Delhi Capitals player in the Indian Premier League (IPL), is not in Bangladesh’s team, which is currently playing Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series at home.

In a similar scenario, South African Test captain Dean Elgar expressed his displeasure with players who chose the IPL over the Test series against Bangladesh, which the former won 2-0.

Greg Barclay
Greg Barclay. Credits: RCB

Neutral Umpires Are To Be Reinstated

“T20 competitions are domestic competitions. Movement of players is an issue for the members, not an ICC issue,” Barclay told reporters in Dhaka.

“We don’t have an arrangement with the players. I would just leave that for the member boards to answer,” he added.

For the current IPL season, Australia prohibited its players from joining their respective franchises until their series against Pakistan was completed.

On reintroducing neutral umpires, Barclay said:

“There were some benefits (of Covid) for cricket. One of them was the chance to use umpires at home. It has given home umpires some exposure to international cricket.

“I think that’s good. It spread the base a little bit wider. But, we are on the other side of Covid. So we are reintroducing the neutral umpire arrangement… You will see neutral umpires back up and running again,” he said.

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Since the Covid-19 epidemic, umpires from host countries have been used. However, during Bangladesh’s recent trip to South Africa, the umpiring standard was criticised, with visitors accusing the official of partiality.

Marais Erasmus Named As ICC Umpire Of The Year 2021
Marais Erasmus Named As ICC Umpire Of The Year 2021. (Photo by Action Foto Sport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In the series, South African umpires Marais Erasmus and Adrian Holdstock were utilized, with Bangladesh coming up short on the majority of close decisions.

Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s best all-rounder, who was not in the series, subsequently took to social media to criticize the umpires.

In the present series against Sri Lanka, the country cricket board (BCB) has partially reinstated neutral umpiring. Richard Kettleborough of England and Joel Wilson of the West Indies, as well as local umpire Sharfuddoula, have been named for the two-match series.

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