TNCA questions COA’s decision to withdraw outstation players in strongly-worded letter

“At the outset, the TNCA is advised to state that the directions contained in the email dated 5thJuly 2018 are without lawful authority being contrary to the Constitution of the BCCI and to the decisions taken by the General Body at the Special General Meeting held on 22nd June 2018. That apart, the directions and also the Advisory, which by no means constitute the regulations of the BCCI, exhibit a complete and utter disregard of the interests of Players who would be deprived of an opportunity to earn a living and would perhaps lose a valuable opportunity to showcase their talents to the world. It is unfathomable how the Committee can countenance such a stand that runs counter to its oft-stated guiding principle of upholding the interests of the primary stakeholders of the Game of Cricket, the players and the public,” it added.

Highlighting the directives of the BCCI’s constitution, the letter went on to state, “The Regulations of the BCCI provide that Members of BCCI are not required to seek approval for conducting tournaments within its territorial jurisdiction unless the tournament involves players from outside such Jurisdiction. As such, there cannot be any manner of doubt that is no question of seeking approval of the BCCI for tournaments conducted by Members where only players from within its jurisdiction are participating. This provision in the Regulations and the practice are natural extensions of the autonomy which each Member enjoys by law and the position cannot be altered without an amendment to the Regulations by following the procedure laid down in the said Regulations. To the extent, therefore, that the Advisory seeks to oblige Members to obtain approval for their own tournaments involving players from within its territorial jurisdiction, the same is void ab initio.”

Reminding the COA of several players who plied their trade for the TNCA, the letter further added, “Even currently the TNCA league has several “outstation” players playing within its jurisdiction and this has been so for several decades. Eminent former crickets such as Sunil Gavaskar, M A K Pataudi, Salim Durrani, M L Jaishimha, G R Vishwanath have played in TNCA tournaments.

“Likewise players like Rahul Dravid, Zaheer Khan, Venkatesh Prasad, Vikram Rathore, Venkatapathy Raju, Arshad Hyub, Suith Somasundar, have continued to play till recently. Even currently players like Piyush Chawla, SAndeep Sharma, Robin Bist, Shiker Bharath, A G Pradeep still play in league tournament at TNCA.”

“The TNCA is hopeful that the Committee will consider the interests of the Players and refrain from interfering with their participation in the TNPL and otherwise allow the TNPL, which is a tournament that is staged for the sole purpose of providing an opportunity to young players, to be conducted without any further incident,” it concluded.