KL Rahul & Rashid Khan could be banned for a year from IPL following rule breach.
IPL 2022 Player Retention: Amidst all the retention process going on with the eight Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could hand-over one year ban to Indian star batsman KL Rahul and Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan for breaching IPL code of conduct.
A verbal complaint has been raised by Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) against Lucknow based new IPL franchise for ‘pursuing & poaching’ Rashid Khan and KL Rahul to leave their respective franchise in the coming season.
The BCCI is now looking into the matter as a verbal complaint has been lodged by both franchises.
It is noteworthy that the IPL 2022 Player retention is scheduled to take place on November 30th and no player prior to that is allowed to be involved in any kind of bargain with another franchise.
“We haven’t received any letter but we have received a verbal complaint from two franchises about players poaching by Lucknow team. We are looking into it, and we will take appropriate action if it proves to be true. We don’t want to disturb the balance. You cannot avoid such things when there is fierce competition. But it’s not fair to the existing teams when they are trying to balance everything,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.
It has been learnt that RPSG owned Lucknow based new IPL franchise is willing to offer INR 20 Crores salary to KL Rahul to leave PBKS while Rashid Khan will be getting INR 16 Crores for his services in the coming season.
Rahul draws a salary of INR 11 Crores from Punjab Kings (PBKS) while Rashid Khan used to get INR 9 Crores from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
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It is also reported that SRH is winning to retain Rashid Khan for INR 12 Crores or less, however, the deal is not setting up well with the Afghan cricketer. Khan wants to be SRH’s first choice retention according to which he will draw at least INR 14 Crores, however, the franchise wants New Zealand captain Kane Williamson to be their first choice retention.
If KL Rahul and Rashid Khan are found to be involved in such activities, the cricket board can hand a year ban to both the cricketers for breaching the rules and protocols of the Indian Premier League.
Interestingly, a similar case has happened in past as well in 2010 when all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was suspended for a year after he was found guilty of initiating a deal with another franchise for a higher salary while he was part of Rajasthan Royals.
“The poaching of players is not right in football and the same goes for cricket. I understand the new teams will be eager to get the best players but offering insane sums only contributes to disrespecting the existing teams. KL Rahul has been a valuable player and manipulating him to leave the team is not right,” a franchise official told InsideSport.
“See, it’s obviously unfair. Till November 30, the players are under our contract and we have the right to negotiate and no one else as per BCCI guidelines. Hence, it is illegal as per the IPL charter. But it is not just about the new franchises. In the past as well, many of our players were approached during the break or before an auction but this time with three first picks, it makes the job difficult for us. We can only hope that BCCI will make stricter guidelines and penalties in such instances for not just the player but also the franchise,” said another franchise official.
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