BCCI Allows Outstation Players To Play In Tamil Nadu Premier League

Just a day after being slammed by the Committee of Administrators for not seeking hosting permission from the BCCI for the third season of Tamil Nadu Premier League,  TNCA stated that it had revealed the plans to BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary a while back about the tournament and its rules.

Earlier this week, the CoA had written a letter to the TNCA, making its displeasure clear over their negligence. The Supreme Court-appointed committee said that the upcoming edition did not have the prior sanction of BCCI.  The Vinod Rai-led committee also stated that TNCA had erred in trying to include players from other states.

However, TNCA has refuted all the allegations, making it clear that Amitabh Chaudhary knew about the tournament and the rules.

The TNCA also defended its decision to include the outstation players. It reasoned by stating that the Supreme Court didn’t stay the decisions taken by BCCI SGM held last month. As a result, it allowed the players from outstation to feature in the tournament. As per the SGM, the BCCI had decided that the host association can include outstation players in their tournaments provided he is an uncapped India player and hasn’t featured in any team in the last IPL.

“We had sent a mail to Choudhary, marking copies to the president (CK Khanna) and treasurer (Anirudh Choudhary) a while back, seeking permission to conduct the tournament. We forwarded that mail and all the documents to the CoA today. Also emphasized on the fact that we acted as per the SGM’s decision on outstation players. We have been conducting the TNPL for the last two years and abided by BCCI’s stipulation that no outstation players will be included in the tournament. Since the SGM last month passed a resolution on outstation players, we followed it,” a top TNCA official told Times of India.

Several players like Hanuma Vihari, Unmukt Chand, Sheldon Jackson had already expressed their desire to play the TNPL.

The TNCA official, however, made it clear that the outstation players won’t be playing in the league if the CoA does not grant the permission.

“A lot of the outstation players will get an opportunity to prove themselves. And might be picked up by an IPL franchise next year. They will also stand a chance to earn money. We mentioned all this and it will be unfair if the CoA snatches away these opportunities from the outstation players. Hopefully, the CoA will understand our position. If they still don’t allow us, we have to abide by their decision,” the official said.

He further revealed that BCCI was aware that the tournament is starting from July 11. To back his claim, he said that it was the reason BCCI’s Anti-Corruption Unit had visited TNCA on Thursday

“The officials had a lengthy meeting with TNPL’s ACU chief Ravi Sawani where they even mentioned no smart watches will be allowed this time. So how can you say that BCCI wasn’t in the know? It was up to the BCCI office bearers to share the mail with CoA. So it wasn’t our fault,” said the official.