First time ever, top Indian cricketers to play in a foreign league

There were 12 England players - the most in any season - playing in the current edition of IPL.

This new format will have 100 balls per innings. The major difference will be in terms of the overs bowled, which will consist of 15 traditional six-ball overs and a single 10-ball over to complete each innings. Thus, each match will be rendered 40 balls shorter than a T20 and the action will be effectively cut to around two and a half hours.

Prior to this, the BCCI had given the nod to women cricketers participating in the Kia Super League T20, starting in England this summer.

If BCCI eventually does allow the likes of Kohli, Dhoni and Rohit to play in the 100-ball cricket tournament in England it would have a lot to do with the England and Cricket Wales Cricket Board sending maximum player to the IPL this year.

Instead, the historic event of Indian players playing in foreign leagues will be realized in England in their newly proposed 100-ball cricket tournament slated to go on the floors in 2020.

As quoted by the dailymail.co.uk, the report says, “Having Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and other top Indians playing would be an immense boost for the Hundred in its inaugural year, especially when England’s Test players will not be involved. It would also be a helpful bargaining chip for future negotiations around an IPL franchise in London.”

And the first cricketers to get the NoC are Virat Kohli, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Rohit Sharma.

Players like Yusuf Pathan, S Sreesanth have failed to get the No Objection Certificate (NoC) from BCCI when they were in talks with T20 Leagues in Hong Kong and Ireland.

The wait of seeing Indian cricketers in other T20 leagues, however, may end soon with BCCI finally agreeing to allow its players to ply their trade overseas.

According to reports, the first league to get the green signal from the BCCI is not the BBL or the CPL.

Ever since BCCI came up with the concept of Indian Premiere league, T20 leagues have mushroomed across the globe, with more and more cricket boards eyeing the lucrative side of it.

But none have been able to match the quality and popularity of IPL, prompting the BCCI to keep an unofficial ban on its players from taking part in other popular leagues like the Big Bash League in Australia or the Caribbean Premiere League in the West Indies.