National interests: BCCI bans cricketers participating in PoK League from playing in Indian leagues

The BCCI has informally told cricket boards across the world that anyone associated with the Kashmir Premier League (KPL) hosted in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) will be banned from participating in any cricket work on or off the pitch in India.

A BCCI official told the Indian Express that the decision was made keeping in mind "national interests" and that it was just an extension of the national policy. The official said the BCCI had no issue with anyone participating in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but objected to the league in PoK as it was "toeing the government's line."

KPL, which is backed by the Pakistan Cricket Board will begin on August 6 and end on August 16. It has six teams, five of which represent PoK cities, while the sixth is for overseas Kashmiris.

On Saturday, Herschelle Gibbs, the former South African international slammed the BCCI's diktat terming it "completely unnecessary" and said it was bringing its "political agenda with Pakistan into the equation."

Reacting to the BCCI's threat, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) issued a statement slamming the BBCI and accusing it of bringing "the game into disrepute by issuing warnings to multiple ICC Members to stop their retired cricketers from featuring in the Kashmir Premier League." The PCB added that the BCCI's conduct was unacceptable, against the Spirit of Cricket preamble and would set the wrong precedent.

BCCI, however, dismissed the statement, saying that they were only about Indian cricket and India, the report added.