MUMBAI, Oct 18: The Bombay High Court has questioned 12 young cricketers holding Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards over their challenge to the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) rule making an Indian passport mandatory for participation in its tournaments, asking why they would not consider acquiring Indian citizenship.
A division bench of Chief Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi and Justice Advait Sethna clarified that it was not directing the players to change their citizenship but was suggesting an option while considering their plea.
The petitioners — Kavin Kartik, Avik Dixit, Ram Repala, Ameyamanasa Reddy Pamulapati, Ayaan Mohammed Ahmed, Vedant Pathak, Nirvetla Rishith Reddy, Kothapally Kritin Reddy, Kothapally Arnav Reddy, Ritesh Sai Eswar, Aryan Singh Sidhu and Kudugunta Krithik Reddy — have challenged the BCCI’s eligibility criteria.
Their counsel, advocate Kunal Cheema, assisted by advocate Datta Mane, argued that the players were seeking permission to participate only in domestic tournaments, not an immediate right to represent India internationally.
Cheema submitted that the cricketers lived and studied in India and needed access to BCCI competitions to build their performance records and improve their prospects of progressing to higher levels, including the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He also contended that OCI cardholders had been allowed to participate in such tournaments until 2023, when the BCCI introduced the restriction.
The bench questioned whether overseas citizens should be allowed to compete in domestic sporting competitions when India already had a large pool of talented players. Chief Justice Tripathi also drew a comparison with government jobs and civil service examinations, asking whether OCI cardholders could claim similar opportunities.
BCCI defends rule
Senior advocate Dr Birendra Saraf, appearing for the BCCI, argued that OCI cardholders were not entitled to represent India internationally under the applicable citizenship framework, adding that only Indian citizens could play for the country.
Saraf said the BCCI invested considerable resources in identifying and developing players through its domestic structure, including tournaments such as the Ranji Trophy, and was entitled to prescribe eligibility conditions for its competitions.
He maintained that the petitioners could continue playing in school and college tournaments, private academies and competitions outside the BCCI’s jurisdiction. However, they could not claim a right to earn a livelihood through BCCI-organised tournaments without meeting its eligibility criteria.The Chief Justice reiterated that the players were free to pursue their education and play cricket but questioned why they insisted on participating in BCCI tournaments without acquiring Indian citizenship.
Saraf said the board would welcome them if they became Indian citizens. He also informed the court that some OCI cardholders had already applied for citizenship and that their applications were being processed.
Next hearing on Nov 25
The Central government, which has been made a party to the case, had not filed its response when the matter came up for hearing.
Cheema told the court that he would cite international conventions at the next hearing to argue that children have the right to choose their citizenship and should not be compelled to change it to pursue sporting opportunities.
The bench directed the BCCI, the Centre and the petitioners to provide details of the status of the citizenship applications. The matter will be heard next on November 25. (Agencies)