Big update! BCCI to ban players who pull out of Indian T20 League at the last minute?

It has become a very common thing for players to register for the Indian T20 League and then pull out of the tournament at the last minute. The reasons are not always completely satisfactory for the teams to miss out on a player. The BCCI has now decided that this behaviour will no longer be acceptable.

The BCCI is believed to have discussed penalties for players who decide to withdraw from the competition for illegitimate reasons. This came after protests from several teams, and the matter was discussed in the recent ITL General Council meeting. Taking action becomes necessary as it affects team balance and chances of winning the tournament when a player leaves them in a soup. The BCCI will deal with the cases on an individual basis and will decide the punishment accordingly, which can also include banning the player for certain reason. Notably, players with genuine reason will be spared. 

"The GC has a commitment towards the franchises who are the important stakeholders of the league. They bid for a player after a lot of planning. Their calculations go haywire if a player pulls out, that too for flimsy reasons," a GC member was quoted by Sports Tiger.

"There will not be a sweeping policy that everyone who has pulled out of the IPL will be prevented for a certain number of years. It will be on a case-by-case basis and some research will be done before action is initiated. What if the reason is genuine," he added.

More recently, Jason Roy and Alex Hales from England pulled out of the tournament citing very similar reasons, bio-bubble fatigue. The two were expected to be an important part of their respective franchises, but they decided not to play this season. Roy couldn't fetch big money as he was sold to Gujarat at a base price of 2 crores.

The teams struggled to find a like for like replacement, which may have raised some concerns for the management.

Meanwhile, Aaron Finch has been called in as a replacement for Hales in Kolkata. Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been named as a replacement for Roy.