CHENNAI: It seems like more trouble is in store for former India allrounder Irfan Pathan. The Baroda player, who is already in the eye of the storm for forwarding his name for Caribbean Premier League (CPL), was held responsible for the mess by the event’s organisers.
Shifting onus on the player and his agent, the organisers — who obviously do not want to rub the mighty Indian cricket board the wrong way — said it’s their responsibility to obtain necessary clearances from their respective boards.
“Any player, regardless of the country they are from, is welcome to enter the draft. The correct paperwork was filed for Irfan to enter the draft and his name was included in the list that was sent out on Wednesday. It is the responsibility of the players and agents to ensure they have the correct clearances from their board,” a CPL spokesperson told this newspaper.
“We queried this in the case of this player (Pathan) and we were told he was eligible to play in CPL in 2019. We will continue to monitor the situation. "
“He violated the rules as a player has to retire from every form of the cricket to become eligible to play in overseas T20 leagues,” a BCCI source told this newspaper.
A record 536 players have made themselves available for the CPL draft, which will be held in London on May 22. Pathan was the only Indian cricketer on the list.
The left-arm pacer was not picked by any IPL teams for the past two seasons. He last featured in 2017, when he represented eventual runners-up Rising Pune Supergiant. Pathan, though, was a part of the IPL commentary team this season. At present, he is plying his trade for Jammu and Kashmir as a player-cum-mentor. BCCI has never allowed its players to participate in rival T20 leagues in the past.
Incidentally, it had denied a no objection certificate to Irfan’s elder brother Yusuf in 2017 when he expressed his desire to play for Kowloon Cantons in Hong Kong T20 Blitz. World Cup-bound Dinesh Karthik’s request to play in an overseas T20 league was also overturned by the board in the past.
Trinbago Knight Riders are the current CPL champions. Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St Lucia Stars and Jamaica Tallawahs are the other teams in the league that started in 2013.
The 2019 edition will be held between September 4 and October 12.