Last year, the BCCI told Indian cricketers to play in local games if they weren’t playing for the national team. When Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan skipped local matches while not on international duty, the board responded by not giving them annual contracts, showing they were serious.
With India losing six of their last eight Test matches in the 2023-25 ICC World Test Championship, the BCCI released rules to encourage team discipline and togetherness.
The board made it a must for cricketers to play local cricket to be considered for national team selection and contracts.
Because of this, guys like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played for their local teams in the recent Ranji Trophy.
Just days before the 18th IPL season kicks off in Kolkata, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia repeated that all players must play in local tournaments when they can.
If anyone wants to skip this, they need to get permission from India’s head coach, Gautam Gambhir, and the selection committee head, Ajit Agarkar.
Saikia told The Times of India, We’ve added another key point to our rules. All players must compete in local tournaments when they are free. Any player who wants to skip a local tournament or match needs approval from the head coach and the selection committee head.
He added, This is to give all the young players a chance to play with the seniors. It’ll help the senior players stay sharp if they aren’t playing international matches.
Saikia also mentioned that the board is sticking to its policy on families joining cricketers on overseas tours, regardless of complaints.
