Dr Ali slams BCCI for barring players from outside T20 leagues

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (CMC):

President of Guyana, Dr Irfaan Ali, has strongly criticised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its decision to bar players from competing in overseas T20 leagues, which includes the Guyana-based Guyana Super League (GSL).

Describing the move as “unsustainable”, Dr Ali said the BCCI was able to enforce such legislation because they were now the superpower of world cricket.

While the Indian Premier League (IPL) is regarded as the biggest T20 league in the world, the BCCI restricts its non-retired players from global leagues outside the IPL, such as the CPL, Pakistan Super League, Big Bash and ILT20.

However, Dr Ali maintained that the sport would ultimately suffer if India continued to hoard its cricketers.

“India holds the cricketing nuclear button ... Control through exclusion and market dominance may yield short-term gains, but an open, level playing field is the only sustainable model for long-term growth.

“India cannot be developing the level of talent it is developing just for its borders,” Dr Ali stressed.

“It’s like boxing. You can’t be a world champion if you only want to fight in your borders, and the BCCI is doing an enormous disservice to the magnitude of talent that India has by not allowing participation in this league.”

Collaborative spirit

Dr Ali called for a return to a collaborative spirit in global cricket and urged the BCCI to reconsider its stance, especially with nations like Saudi Arabia “investing strategically in sports”, which he noted can “quickly reshape the balance of power”.

Dr Ali explained that he wanted the recently established GSL, spearheaded by Guyana and backed by Cricket West Indies, to be seen as a global partner to existing T20 competitions, not a rival.

He explained that the GSL, a new Champions League-style tournament that seeks to bring together the winners of major T20 leagues like the CPL, PSL, BBL, and more – was a more sustainable solution.

“On the economic side, we strongly believe that the product that we have launched – the Global Super League – is not meant to be in competition with any product. It is meant to be in partnership with all the different T20 products.

“In the first year, I believe it has ruffled enough feathers and created enough news for people to understand this is a serious league,” Dr Ali said.