Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that more Indian players should be allowed to participate in the foreign leagues, saying that playing along with international stars overseas would give youngsters terrific exposure and broaden their cricketing horizons.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) prohibits the active Team India players from featuring in any of the overseas T20 leagues. The players can only play abroad after retiring from all forms of domestic and international cricket, and are also supposed to secure a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the board.
“India is a massive country, not everyone gets an opportunity to play, not everyone can make it. So why stop a guy (from playing in Big Bash League) if he can`t make it to the Test side, get a level C or level D contract?” Shastri said on the Willow Talk podcast.
Former Team India spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, became the first high-profile Indian cricketer to join the BBL. He will represent Sydney Thunder for the upcoming season.
“That exposure will help him when he comes back like the IPL has helped so many young players as they rub shoulders with top class players,” he added.
Shastri also said that the Indian players will not only get to share the dressing room but will also learn to handle pressure and work with legends such as Ricky Ponting and Stephen Fleming.
“They learn to handle pressure. Additionally, they get to rub shoulders with big international stars like (Ricky) Ponting and (Stephen) Fleming and international players,” said the 63-year-old former cricketer.
He also labelled the feature in away leagues as an education for the Indian players. The veteran of 150 ODI matches, also cited the example that the players will get to know different methods, like a West Indies` training method will be different from an Australian method.
“It`s an education – and for me, there`s no better education than going overseas. That exposure is terrific, not just in cricketing terms but in understanding different cultures and methods. You learn so many things – a West Indian training method will be different from an Australian one,” he concluded.
(With PTI Inputs)