CHENNAI: In a surprising development, India Test opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has opted to switch to Goa from Mumbai for the next domestic season. The Goa Cricket Association confirmed the big switch and said it is still in touch with as many as 10 players so that they can at least sign a couple of them for the next season. The GCA secretary Shamba Desai also informed that Jaiswal could lead the Goa side depending on his availability after the national duty.
Goa have recently been promoted to the Elite Group for the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy after they won the title in the Plate Group this season. As per the BCCI's rules for guest players, an affiliated unit of the BCCI can have a maximum of three professionals outside its jurisdiction in the senior men and women's teams.
"GCA approached Yashasvi 8-10 days ago and he also expressed his interest in making the switch," the GCA secretary told this daily. As per the rules, the interested player has to mail the BCCI secretary about his decision to transfer from one association to another and procure a no-objection certificate from his existing association.
A Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official confirmed the reports of Jaiswal's transfer and said the state unit has accepted his request.
While Jaiswal's captaincy aspiration was termed as the reason for his shock transfer, sources in the know of things said it is not the sole reason behind the 23-year-old cricketer's shocking decision.
"In that group match against Jammu & Kashmir, his shot selection in the second innings was questioned by a senior teammate. That led to an argument between the two as Jaiswal also retaliated and questioned the teammate's shot selection in the first innings," said a source.
Jaiswal had scored 4 and 26 in the first and second innings of the match, which was also incidentally his last game for the domestic heavyweights. It was learnt that he also turned up for the semifinal match against Vidarbha but didn't play citing injury.
There was yet another incident in the past which highlighted Jaiswal's acrimonious relationship with some of his Mumbai teammates. In September 2022, he was sent off the field by West Zone captain Ajinkya Rahane during the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone for disciplinary reasons.
Transfer rules in focus
Considering they can have two more guest players, names of Mumbai's Suryakumar Yadav and Hyderabad Tilak Varma were doing the rounds but the Goa secretary neither denied nor confirmed it. "I cannot reveal names at this juncture but once the move is finalised, the names can be made public," he said.
Incidentally, the BCCI, during its annual general meeting in Goa two years ago, decided that state associations cannot pay extra sum to its guest players. As per the rules, these players can only be paid match fees like other domestic cricketers. It will be interesting to see what, if not money, will prompt other senior cricketers to turn professionals and make a switch to relatively lesser-known sides like Goa.