ICC likely to clash with BCCI over new '23-member contingent' rule for marquee events

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has recently implemented a new rule in which it would allow only 23 members in each team's contingent for every ICC tournament. According to a leading Indian media daily, the ICC has reduced the number of members from 25 to 23. The new rule will affect teams like the 'Big Three' i.e. India, Australia and England, which include a large number of members in their contingents.

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Team India, who are currently playing in New Zealand, has as many as 28 people in it. It includes 15 players, four coaches, two throwdown specialists, one trainer, one physio, two masseurs, one manager, one media manager and a logistics manager.

The new rule has already been implemented in the ICC U-19 Men’s World Cup in South Africa and the Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, which is slated to take place from February 21. Reportedly, there could be some problems in the men’s event later this year due to the new guidelines.

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BCCI might also oppose ICC's new replacements rule

ICC has further abolished the rule of carrying standby players for the global events conducted by them. This would mean that no team would have the luxury of naming players for contingency. This rule has been implemented in order to cut down on expenses and reduce the logistical burden on cricket's governing body.

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The BCCI, which has not been in favour of many of ICC's recent ideas such as having one marquee event each year, is likely to oppose this move vehemently as well and might look to flex their financial muscles on the same. During the 2015 World Cup, the selectors had named Dhawal Kulkarni as an extra bowler. 4 years later, Rishabh Pant was on stand by for the Men in Blue at the 2019 World Cup before he got drafted in because of an injury to Shikhar Dhawan. It would be interesting to see how other major cricketing boards would react to the execution of this particular rule as wellsince they are used to having extra support staff, considering that the ICC event is a global one that usually takes place across two months.

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IMAGE COURTESY: INDIAN CRICKET TEAM INSTAGRAM