ICC turns down BCCI’s request to not recognize Kashmir Premier League

The ongoing talks over Kashmir Premier League have taken the ruckus to the next level. Plenty of inane talks happened before things turned into a mess. Earlier, former South Africa cricketer Herschelle Gibbs launched a scathing attack on the BCCI.

The former cricketer slammed the board for threatening him for participating in the KPL. The drama unfolded when Gibbs boldly took to Twitter to express his opinion. Soon after that, Gibbs’ tweet went viral on the internet.

Most of his fans and followers joined the bandwagon and slammed BCCI for bringing political agenda in cricket-related activity. After that, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also released a statement and expressed its displeasure over the ongoing talks.

BCCI already made its opinion quite clear on the KPL. The richest cricket body warned the players and cricket boards from partaking in the KPL. The board further added that any former player playing the KPL will be banned from the cricketing activities in India.

“While asking the boards not to allow their players to take part in the Kashmir league, we have informed them that in case they do, they can’t be part of any cricketing activity in India. We have done this keeping national interest in mind and have no problems with those playing the Pakistan Super League (PSL) but this is a league in PoK. We are toeing our government’s line,” the BCCI official had said.

Not under our jurisdiction: ICC

PCB has got green light to host the KPL and the tournament will be played as per the schedule. “The tournament is not under ICC’s jurisdiction as it is not an international cricket tournament,” an ICC spokesperson told Geo TV.

As everyone already knows that KPL comes under the Pakistan Cricket Board’s authority. So, PCB has every right to sanction the tournament and not the ICC. The cricketing body can only intercede if the matches are to be held in an associate member’s territory.

The first edition of the Kashmir Premier League will kick off on August 6. Big stars like Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi are among others set to take part in the tournament. The tournament will be played in Muzaffarabad which is also the disputed land in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.