One the first players to take the cue from BCCIs offer to the rebel Indian Cricket League players will be former Punjab and India all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Having had a two-year stint with the ICL,Sodhi wants to return to the BCCI fold and dreams about playing first-class cricket for his state once again. The cricket board has agreed to take back ICL players if they break their contracts with the league by May 31. There are many in the ICL who will ponder a comeback to the mainstream but Sodhi is the first to discuss it openly: I do miss playing for Punjab a lot. With due respect to ICL,if ending ties with it will allow cricketers to play for their states and maybe for India,then why not? Sodhi,who played for Chandigarh Lions in the first edition and for Ahmedabad Rockets in the second edition,told The Indian Express. When he signed up for the ICL about two years ago,Sodhi was struggling to make an impression in the national arena. Like many of his Punjab team mates,he too jumped on to the ICL bandwagon,and was subsequently banned by the BCCI. Tough decision It will be a very tough decision simply because ICL has been good with the players. Who could have thought of playing alongside such amazing international players and coaches? But the fact that we could not represent our state or country was sad, he said. Sodhi,28,was merely 15 when he stood on the Lords balcony with the Under-15 World Cup in his hand. Four years later,Sodhi was drafted into the national side. But after an average performance with the bat and ball,he was soon ousted from the Indian teams scheme of things. In the last two years,Sodhi has played only Twenty20 cricket. When asked whether this would act as a deterrent in the longer version of the game on the domestic circuit,he said,I really dont think it will hamper the approach and mindset of a cricketer.
