Yuvraj seeks clearance to play in GT20 and Slam, Irfan told to withdraw name from CPL draft

When the CPL released its biggest-ever draft list of 537 names for its draft on Wednesday there was one name that stood out to many. 34-year-old Irfan Pathan appeared as the lone Indian player.

Now it appears another famous left-hander is contemplating a stint in one or more other international T20 leagues.

Various agencies have reported that another left-handed star of Indian cricket, Yuvraj Singh is also considering his options.

“Yuvraj is thinking of calling it quits from international and first class cricket. He would like to speak to the BCCI and get more clarity on plying his trade in tournaments like GT20 (Canada), Euro T20 Slam in Ireland and Holland as he has offers,” a BCCI source told PTI on Sunday.

Pathan and Singh are not the first big-name players to explore international T20 opportunities. In 2017 the Kowloon Cantons announced Irfan’s brother Yusuf was to play in the 2017 Hong Kong T20 Blitz.

His No Objection Certificate (NOC) was rescinded by Indian cricket authorities shortly after the news broke across the world.

Pathan asked by BCCI to withdraw name from CPL draft

The Hindustan Time reported a BCCI source as saying “Irfan was told to withdraw his name from the draft. As far as Yuvraj is concerned, we need to check the rules. Even if he retires from first class cricket, he will still be an active T20 player registered under BCCI. The rule needs to be checked.”

Earlier Emerging Cricket spoke to a CPL spokesperson, who explained the situation with respect to Irfan Pathan’s nomination.

“Any player, regardless of the country they are from, is welcome to enter the CPL draft. The correct paperwork was filed for Irfan Pathan to be entered into the draft and his name was included in the list that was sent out on Wednesday so fans could see the amazing talent we have in the draft pool for this year. It is the responsibility of the players and agents to ensure they have the correct clearances from their board. We queried this in the case of this player and we were told he was eligible to play at CPL in 2019. We will continue to monitor the situation.”

With the plans of an Indian players association in the works, there have been conversations about the opportunities for retired cricketers beyond their days playing within the BCCI’s current auspices. Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag, for example, have been able to play T10 cricket without being subject to any BCCI sanction.

However, the BCCI official said, as reported by the Hindustan Times again, “The T10 might have been approved by the ICC but it’s still not an acknowledged format. But yes, going forward, as and when the players association takes shape, the case for retired players may come up for consideration.”

CPL draft on Wednesday in London

The CPL’s seventh edition has a record 537 players from over 20 countries being considered by the six franchises.

The official announcement can be found here. Draft starts at 3pm GMT, 22 May. The CPL will run 21 August – 27 September.

Other T20 events around that period that could impact player availability are the new Euro T20 Slam (30 Aug -22 Sep) and the Vitality Blast (18 Jul – 21 Sep).