Sanjay Patel: No question of stopping West Indies players from playing in IPL

"No question of stopping West Indies players in IPL"

Oct 19, 2014

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Sanjay Patel has said that there is no question of stopping West Indies players in Indian Premier League (IPL) after the team pulled out of the ongoing India tour.

“There is no question of stopping them (West Indies players) from playing in the IPL. Our problem is with the West Indies Board and not their players. Whatever is happening is between their players and Board. The BCCI is not at all concerned with it. We have a contract with the WICB. Also, a lot of these West Indies players are bought by the franchises,” Patel said to Mid-Day.

The IPL has a large presence of West Indies players who have been successful in the league. The likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Sunil Narine and many others are key players for their respective franchises in IPL.

Hours after the team’s decision to pull out of the tour, there were reports that the BCCI might review participation of West Indies players in IPL. “The matter is likely be raised at IPL governing council meeting where the issue will come up for serious discussions. Some of the members of board’s top brass want to ban the West Indies players for atleast one season,” a senior BCCI functionary had said top PTI on October 17.

However, the BCCI is likely to review it’s future ties with West Indies due to the current issue.”Members will discuss what sort of a relationship to have with the West Indies board henceforth, and whether we should play with them in future will also be discussed,” Patel said to the newspaper.

Complete coverage on the cancellation of West Indies tour of India 2014