The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to organise a high-profile Twenty20 league of its own to counter the challenge posed by the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL).
The plan is still at a formative stage and it is learnt that the legendary Sunil Gavaskar would be asked to head the organising committee of the league, to be called the Professional Cricket League.
“We have been working on something for sometime now, but we are not yet ready to announce anything right now. When we are ready, we will let you know,” BCCI vice-president and marketing committee chief Lalit Modi said on Thursday.
The proposal did not come up for discussion at the special General Body meeting of BCCI in Mumbai on Tuesday. “There has been no discussion on this in the BCCI,” a top source in the Board said.
Although BCCI officials were not willing to shed much light on the new proposal, it is learnt that two or three foreign players will be allowed to play in each team.
Jolted by the rebel ICL’s massive recruitment dri-ve, the BCCI has decided to ban defecting players.
The ICL, a brainchild of Subhash Chandra owned Essel Group, has so far recruited 44 Indian first-class players and seven overseas players, including West Indies batting great Brian Lara and former Pakistani captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.