BCCI mulls fielding five professionals for new teams

With the new states struggling to find competitive players to field for their maiden outing in senior tournaments approved by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the upcoming season, the Indian board is mulling over relaxing the rule of fielding only three professionals in a team for the debutant states.

For the first time, states like Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Pondicherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Assam will field a team each in the BCCI age groups and senior tournaments following the Supreme Court's directives. Bihar too will make a comeback into BCCI tournaments after an 18-year hiatus.

Though there is utmost joy at being given the opportunity for the first time, most states are grappling to find quality players. It is learnt that the BCCI's Committee of Administrators (CoA) and the professionals designated to run the tournaments are thinking about increasing the number of professionals to five for the new teams to make it a level-playing field.

"There is talk about allowing five professionals. The proposal is being evaluated by Saba Karim [BCCI's General Manager, games development]," a source told mid-day yesterday. Currently, every team is allowed to field three players who are hired from other states.

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