Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has addressed the question fans keep asking, will active Indian players ever be allowed to play in overseas T20 leagues? He does not think that will happen anytime soon, saying the BCCI is expected to continue with its current policy.
Over the last few years, many foreign leagues have grown rapidly, and fans have often wondered if India’s biggest stars could one day feature in tournaments like The Hundred, the Big Bash League, SA20, or Major League Cricket. But Ashwin believes that possibility is still far away.
Ravichandran Ashwin explains why the BCCI doesn’t allow active Indian players to play overseas leagues
The BCCI has always followed a strict rule when it comes to Indian players’ participation in the overseas franchise leagues. Any player who is still active in Indian cricket is not allowed to play in foreign leagues. To become eligible, a player has to retire from all forms of Indian cricket first.
Well, Ravichandran Ashwin feels there is a strong reason behind this approach. The IPL has become the biggest T20 league in the world, and one of the main reasons is that all leading Indian cricketers play only in the tournament. Keeping them exclusive to the IPL helps the BCCI to maintain its popularity and value, as opined by the former Indian all-rounder.
Ravichandran Ashwin was quoted as saying by BBC, “The honest answer is no. Whether you agree to it or not, the economic model means a lot to the game, and the IPL is standing at the cusp of probably having a valuation that’s more than some of the other leagues. The IPL is able to retain the quality of players, local players especially, and Indian players are heavily marketable in the country.”
Don’t think it’s going to happen: Ashwin on Indian players in overseas leagues
Interestingly, Ravichandran Ashwin himself is currently playing for a team in Major League Cricket in the USA. He became eligible only after retiring from Indian cricket. He had also planned to play in the ILT20 and the Big Bash League, but those moves did not happen.
However, the former Indian off-spinner believes that the retired Indian cricketers can be seen in overseas leagues, but he does not expect active or centrally contracted Indian players to get that clearance in the near future. Why Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t play alongside Haris Rauf in San Francisco Unicorns’ MLC 2026 opener?
Ashwin further added, “Enabling them to move on to another league, especially when they’re contracted to play for their country, I don’t think it’s going to happen. But you will see one-off cricketers here and there who will turn up and play in some of these leagues.”
BCCI mulls new rule to stop early retirements
This matter re-sparked the discussions after Vijay Shankar announced his retirement from Indian cricket and immediately signed up for the Lanka Premier League.
Soon after that, reports claimed that the BCCI is considering a new five-year cooling-off rule to stop players from retiring early just to play in foreign leagues, as many such cases, like those of Ambati Rayudu and Vijay, have been coming into the light.