Punjab Kings co-owner Mohit Burman called the availability of foreign cricketers in the IPL a delicate matter and noted that the BCCI, foreign boards, and other stakeholders might do more to guarantee that foreign players remain accessible for the duration of the biggest T20 competition in the world.
Foreign players who withdraw from the IPL after being purchased at auction are subject to a two-year suspension by the BCCI, with the exemption of injured cricketers.
However, the availability of foreign players—especially elite players—remains a problem. For instance, Cricket Australia only cleared Mitchell Starc for the second half of this season’s competition, and by then, the Delhi Capitals’ tournament fate was all but certain.
Due to niggles, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were both unavailable for their respective IPL teams from the start of the competition.
Burman expressed his opinions on the sensitive subject while talking to PTI.
“It is a sensitive issue because international cricket calendars are extremely crowded, and players also have commitments to their national boards. But ideally, when a player commits to a franchise, there should be as much clarity as possible around availability.
“From a franchise perspective, planning becomes difficult when key players are unavailable for significant portions of the tournament despite being major auction investments.
“Fans also expect to see marquee players from the start of the season. At the same time, solutions have to come through collaboration rather than confrontation. The BCCI, franchises, players and international boards all need to align schedules better and create clearer commitments,” said Burman, who owns 48 percent share of the Punjab franchise.
Hemang Badani, the head coach of the Delhi Capitals, stated his dissatisfaction with player availability when questioned earlier this month, particularly when that player is a trump card like Starc.
“Ideally, I would want my players to be available to me from day one. But if there are certain things decided by associations and governing bodies, there’s very little that we can do,” he had said.
“Because if Cricket Australia does not release him, which was also the case with Hazlewood, also the case with Pat Cummins, there’s little a coach or any franchise can do about that. Hopefully, we have a solution to it in the future,” said Badani.
