Sachin, Karthick withdrawn from Masters T20

In a move that fittingly showcases the trivial-mindedness of the BCCI, the Indian cricket board withdrew candidature of Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik from Friday’s Masters Twenty20 match in Wellington because of the involvement of Hamish Marshall, who plays for the ICL.

Tendulkar was supposed to turn out for the New Zealand Cricket Players` Association (NZCPA) while Karthik was to play for the Australian Cricketers` Association (ACA) Masters in a game billed as a curtain-raiser to the second Twenty20 between India and New Zealand on Friday evening. Marshall, who played for the Royal Bengal Tigers in the ICL, was also part of the NZCPA squad.

ICL, seen as a rival to the BCCI-backed IPL, is banned by the BCCI. All players associated with the league are barred from all forms of official cricket and from using any of its facilities. The BCCI also used its financial muscle power within the ICC to ensure other national boards imposed bans on ICL cricketers and officials.

Earlier, a proposal of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Murali Vijay, Laxmipathy Balaji, Amit Mishra and new fast bowling find Dhawal Kulkarni turning out for provincial teams in New Zealand domestic championship to gain match-practice before the three-match Test series also had to be turned down reportedly due to huge presence of ICL players in New Zealand’s domestic set-up.

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