MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India has moved quickly to snuff out any hopes “fringe players” or those “closing in on retirement” may harbour of getting to play professionally in Twenty20 leagues outside India. The BCCI has handed a three-month suspension to Uttar Pradesh cricketer Rinku Singh for featuring in an unauthorised T20 tournament in Abu Dhabi, which has now led to his withdrawal from India A team.
While Rinku’s suspension starts June 1, BCCI had let go veteran all-rounder Irfan Pathan with a warning for putting his name in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) draft without parent body’s prior permission before withdrawal. Similarly, no action was taken against former India U-19 captain Anuj Rawat for playing unsanctioned T20 league in Mauritius with Pakistani cricketers of dubious credibility.
Rinku has also been a part of Kolkata Knight Riders for the past two seasons and it was learnt that he played in the unsanctioned league after the IPL got over.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the BCCI said: “Mr Singh did not seek permission from the BCCI before taking part in the T20 league hence directly violating the BCCI rules and regulations.”
As per the BCCI norms, a player registered with the board cannot play in any tournaments abroad without the board’s permission.
“Mr Rinku Singh therefore has been suspended with immediate effect for a period of three months starting June 1, 2019,” the statement read.
He has been removed from the current India A squad set to play a multi-day game against Sri Lanka A starting from Friday.
“The BCCI will not tolerate such violations in the future and strict actions will be taken if a player is found violating the BCCI rules and regulations,” the statement further read.
However there are questions being raised as to why Rinku, a young player wasn’t at least given a warning about the consequences he could face for his indiscretion.
“If Irfan Pathan, who played significant amount of international cricket, was not even given a rap on the knuckles for registering in CPL after being well aware about the rules and regulations, suspending Rinku after his first mistake is simple double standards,” a senior BCCI official, privy with working of cricket operations team, told PTI on Thursday.
When BCCI’s GM Cricket Operations Saba Karim was asked, he told the newswire: “We want to send a strong message to the youngsters that there would be consequences if they don’t follow the rules and regulations. I agree that Irfan is a senior player but he ultimately didn’t play the tournament.”
The senior official also questioned that if the logic of setting an example was an issue, then how come BCCI allowed Delhi keeper-batsman Anuj Rawat to go scot-free after he was seen playing alongside former Pakistan internationals, who till recently were in ICC anti-corruption unit’s radar.
“If you want to teach any youngster a lesson, then it should be same for all. The cricket operations team let go Anuj Rawat, who immediately after that played for India U-19 in Sri Lanka. Here for the same offence, Rinku Singh was denied a chance to represent India,” he said.
Expecting consistency in terms of either punishment or rewards from the BCCI would of course be asking too much. Singh got the rap he did because he was far lower in the Indian power rankings food chain than Pathan (by virtue of experience and career performances) or Rawat (who obviously has “friends in ‘higher’ places”).
