BCCI to announce policy for players taking part in overseas leagues

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.

Vijay Shankar 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.

Over the years, several Indian players have taken that route, including Dinesh Karthik, Yuvraj Singh, Unmukt Chand, Praveen Tambe and Irfan Pathan, among others.

The Apex Council deliberated on the way forward and left the matter to the BCCI president and secretary to take a final call. The Board seems to be contemplating a cooling-off period of at least five years for a player to be part of Indian cricket once he has played in an overseas league. Under the current policy, no active Indian cricketer is permitted to participate in overseas leagues.

Requests from Maldives and Fiji

The BCCI discussed requests for assistance from the Cricket Board of Maldives and Cricket Fiji. There was also a pending application from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands seeking affiliation.

There was no mention of the India T20 captaincy issue in the Apex Council agenda and it was not discussed either.