BCCI accused of double standards as Gautam Gambhir forced to withdraw from unofficial league

Gambhir was named the brand ambassador of Indian Junior Premier League.

New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir was named the brand ambassador of recently launched, Indian Junior Premier League (IJPL) T20 event.

With a Delhi-based businessman Dinesh Kapoor as the promoter, mentioned former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes, West Indian Kieron Pollard and Himachal Pradesh cricketer Rishi Dhawan as the mentors, while Gambhir himself posted a tweet - 'New horizons with @IJPLT20. A national tournament for junior cricket aspirants' - confirming his association with the league.

Now, the news is that BCCI have sent a notice to the league, which has Gambhir as brand ambassador and the Delhi lad has already withdrew from the league, as per a report in Cricbuzz.

However, sources close to Gambhir are now accusing BCCI of double standards since they didn't raise similar questions of MS Dhoni's association with a private league.

"Gambhir decided to promote a league knowing that he wasn't contracted with the BCCI at the time but was sent a notice immediately . MS Dhoni had promoted the UAE-based Masters Champions League (MCL) and had sent out a video message supporting the league despite being the India captain. But the BCCI had no objection to that," a source in the know of things said.

"Rhiti Sports, the company associated with Dhoni, also bought a team in the MCL but it all conveniently went unnoticed. Gambhir's association ­ despite the fact that he doesn't have a contract with BCCI right now ­ turned out to be a problem," the source added.

The BCCI has always shown a 'once-bitten-twice shy' approach in dealing with any private cricket leagues sprouting in the country. "Which is perfectly understandable but why have one policy for Dhoni and another for Gambhir?" lashed out an executive associated with the league.