‘Please let us go, honest to god’: Robin Uthappa wants BCCI to allow Indian players in foreign leagues

India batsman Robin Uthappa on Friday said that he wants the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to change its ruling on overseas T20 leagues. The BCCI does not allow Indian players to participate in foreign T20 tournaments such as Big Bash League (BBL), Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Mzansi Super League (South Africa), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) etc. Former India allrounder Yuvraj Singh was given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) by the board to play in Global T20 Canada last year after he announced his retirement from all formats of cricket, including the Indian Premier League.

Speaking in an interview to BBC, Uthappa said: “Please let us go, honest to God. It does hurt when we’re not allowed to go and play … It would be so nice if we could go and play at least a couple of others because as a student of the game you want to learn and grow as much as you can.”

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Uthappa’s remarks came just a few days after a similar suggestion was made by Suresh Raina in an Instagram Live chat with former India allrounder Irfan Pathan.

Uthappa, who was bought by Rajasthan Royals at the IPL auctions in December last year, further expressed hopes that things could change with Sourav Ganguly at the helm. “Ganguly is a very progressive thinking human being, someone who has always looked to take India to the next level. He actually laid the foundation for where India cricket is now,” Uthappa said.

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“We’re hoping that he will look at this at some point,” he added.

The 13th edition of IPL this year was suspended indefinitely in the wake of coronavirus pandemic. It still remains to be seen whether the tournament will take place this year or not.