The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has expressed its unhappiness with the way the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) has gone about so far. There have been quite a few controversies this season, and BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has not minced his words by any means.
Among the controversies, Rajasthan Royals media manager Romi Bhinder was spotted using his mobile phone in the players’ dugout, a prohibited area to use the mobile phone.
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The girlfriends of certain cricketers have been travelling with them, and some of them are social media influencers, which can compromise certain match-related information. Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan and Yashasvi Jaiswal are some of the cricketers who have been spotted with their girlfriends often.
There has also been movement of some unauthorised people, in the company of players.
Then, Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag was caught vaping on camera. As per the BCCI, even some of the team owners have been spotted in prohibited areas. The Bhinder and Parag incidents especially brought a lot of bad press for the league. A great many former cricketers criticised Parag’s vaping act and his making himself a bad example for the youngsters.
Saikia minces no words!
On Thursday, Saikia detailed out what all has gone wrong this season according to the cricket governing body in India. He said that later today the BCCI will release an advisory for all 10 franchises wherein they will be told what they haven’t done right and what they should do going forward.
Saikia said, “This time, we have observed various anomalies and irregularities in the conduct of certain franchises and players. So, BCCI and IPL are preparing an advisory, and we are going to release that advisory this evening because we have noticed that there are a lot of unauthorised persons who are moving along with the team members.
“And some people who are unauthorised are coming to the hotels and to the players’ rooms or the team officials’ room, which is totally against our anti-corruption protocols.
“We have also seen that certain team owners and officials are mingling with players in areas where it is not allowed. So there are certain protocols we have to follow, and we have seen there are some dilutions.
“We have taken this very seriously. We are issuing an advisory, and it will be very strictly followed. If there is any violation hereinafter, then BCCI and IPL will take very stringent action.”