Dinesh Karthik, the ambassador of SA20, stands with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in their decision to now allow active Indian cricketers to participate in overseas leagues. Karthik, who retired from Indian cricket last year, said the Indian Premier League (IPL) was world cricket’s ‘crown jewel’ and the BCCI’s embargo is important to maintaining that status, which even leagues like SA20 will accept.
The wicketkeeper-batter was responding to News18 CricketNext‘s query in a select media interaction on Sunday. Earlier, in an interview with this website, SA20 director Graeme Smith had said that the league’s goal was to improve every year and become the best league outside India — a process that can be accelerated if more popular Indian cricketers like Karthik start getting involved.
“I am a big believer that the IPL should be the crown jewel for the BCCI and it is, at the moment, in world cricket,” Karthik said. “And for it to maintain its status quo as number one, I believe that Indian cricketers shouldn’t be allowed unless they are retired. They can take the call if they feel they are done with the IPL and move on to play in other leagues. I completely stand with BCCI on that front.”
“I agree you can always argue saying can youngsters be given more opportunities but I think there’s enough and more in India in terms of competition and in ways of being financially secure. And if you are good enough, IPL is a great platform. There’s domestic cricket and the other franchise leagues that are happening in India right now, as we speak… Cricketers from India should be allowed to play once they retire. I think that’s the right way to go. I believe the SA20, or any other league for that matter, will be more than happy to work with and have a couple of other players, who have retired from the BCCI and from playing for India,” he added.
Karthik became the first Indian player to feature in South Africa’s premier T20 competition when he played for the Paarl Royals in the 2025 season. The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicketkeeper-batter batted eight times in 11 matches, scoring 130 runs at a strike-rate of 121.49. Apart from that, he attended multiple press events as the ambassador, while also commentating in some games.
