The Hundred is a franchise-based tournament organized by England and Wales Cricket Board ( ECB). Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik has stated that he would love to play The Hundred. However, it’s a fact that BCCI has made strict rules regarding country players playing franchise leagues. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) prohibits cricketers from playing overseas leagues. Also, Dinesh Karthik seems happy following the rules and regulations made by the BCCI.
Meanwhile, BCCI gave NOC to 5 women players to participate in The Hundred. The list contains Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, and Jemimah Rodrigues. However, the men’s cricketers are not allowed to participate in such franchise leagues. The rules state that only retired cricketers can play overseas leagues. Also, the cricketers who decide to play in those tournaments will not be allowed to play in the IPL.
Dinesh Karthik also mentioned that Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa would love to join overseas leagues. However, currently, they can’t play other tournaments because of rules made by BCCI.
We represent the BCCI, we represent the country: Dinesh Karthik
“Given an opportunity, why not? But because of the rules that are in place right now we are not able to come play. But who knows, if things can change, why not? I know a few of the cricketers – the likes of Suresh Raina, Robin Uthappa – they have come out and said they would like to play a few other franchise leagues but I don’t think it’s been accepted as of now,” Dinesh Karthik said in an interview with the Guardian.
“So we’ll wait and see. I would love to play. But with the rules in place, I’m very happy following them. We represent the BCCI, we represent the country. Whatever the rules are, I guess we have to follow them at this point in time,” he added.
Meanwhile Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh previously registered himself for The Hundred 2019 draft. However later he withdrew his name after learning that he can’t play IPL and had to retire if he plays The Hundred. Notably, Dinesh Karthik and Harbhajan Singh haven’t retired from international cricket. However, still, they are not in the scheme of things for the Indian team.