West Indies cricketers to play in IPL

Dwayne Bravo

Hyderabad, Oct 21 (IANS) Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Ranjib Biswal said on Tuesday that despite the West Indies players cancelling their tour of India mid-way last week, they will play in the cash-rich league next season.

"There will be no sanction against the West Indies players and they will be allowed to play in the IPL," Biswal told reporters after a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) working committee meeting here.

Opening batsman Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore), all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith (Chennai Super Kings), power-hitting batsman Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) and mystery spinner Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) are many of the Windies players who have star-value in the Twenty20 tournament.

Following the fourth One-Day International (ODI) at Dharamsala, the West Indies players chose not to complete the tour because of an ongoing payment structure dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA).

The West Indies were yet to play the fifth ODI at Kolkata and a one-off Twenty20 International at Cuttack followed by three Tests at Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad when its players decided to withdraw from the tour.