'Franchises, not BCCI, should control players'

Gautam Gambhir, captain of the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders, has urged franchises to do more to discipline players, saying the BCCI can't be held responsible for players' off-field behaviour during the IPL.

"Somewhere down the line, franchises need to control these things," he told news channel Headlines Today. "A certain player from a certain team does these things, the franchise needs to be fined and it has to be fined heavily." There had been several controversies during the IPL, including Royal Challengers Bangalore's Luke Pomersbach being charged by the Delhi police with assaulting a woman.

"It is the responsibility of the franchise to control its players," Gambhir said. "The BCCI can't appoint one person each to keep a watch over every player.

"Players who have a history of binge drinking and have got into trouble in the past, franchises should impose a curfew on them and they should be sent back to their rooms."

The IPL also faced allegations of black money and spot-fixing, but Gambhir defended the Indian board and the IPL. "We keep blaming the BCCI and the IPL for all these things," he said. "A lot of these things can be sorted out if the franchise is strong enough. Whatever we sign for is given, and nothing is given under the table."

IPL chairman, Rajiv Shukla, meanwhile told PTI that the franchises must 'keep an eye' on their playing and support staff. "We are not going to protect any player. We will definitely take action against anyone found guilty and we will tell franchises also to be very careful about these things," Shukla said. "They should also keep a strict eye on the activities of the respective players and support staff of their side."