Apex Council to decide on retirement policy for Indian cricketers

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to formulate a retirement policy for Indian cricketers. The issue has gained prominence as some Indian players have been calling time on their international or domestic careers to take part in overseas leagues.

The case of Vijay Shankar is a prime example. He recently announced his retirement from Indian cricket and almost immediately made himself available for the Lankan Premier League (LPL). Soon after, he was signed by the Kandy Royals for the 2026 season.

Vijay Shankar is not the only Indian cricketer to have done so. Over the years, several Indian players have taken that route, including Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Unmukt Chand, Praveen Tambe and Irfan Pathan, among others.

In this regard, the Apex Council, which is scheduled to meet online in a few hours, is expected to deliberate on the way forward. Under the current policy, no active Indian cricketer – whether an international, or a domestic or an IPL player – is permitted to participate in overseas leagues. It remains to be seen how and whether the Apex Council will revisit the policy.

Requests from Maldives and Fiji

Apart from the retirement issue, the BCCI will also consider requests for assistance from the Cricket Board of Maldives and Cricket Fiji. Board officials are expected to deliberate on the support that can be extended to the two international boards. There is also a pending application from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands seeking affiliation, and that matter is set to come up for discussion in the virtual meeting.

There is no mention of the India T20I captaincy issue in the Apex Council agenda. In any case, the Apex Council is not the forum to deliberate on selection matters, which is the jurisdiction of the national selection committee.