Among the first ones to take cue from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's 'amnesty' offer to the rebel Indian Cricket League players will be the former Punjab and India all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi. Having had his stint with the ICL, Sodhi wants to return to the BCCI fold and dreams about playing first-class cricket for his state once again.
The BCCI has agreed to take back the ICL players if they break their contracts with the league by May 31. There are many in the ICL who will ponder a comeback to the mainstream but Sodhi is the first one to actually talk openly about it: "I do miss playing for my state Punjab a lot. With due respect to ICL, if ending ties with it will allow cricketers to play for their states and maybe for India, then why not?", Sodhi who played for Chandigarh Lions in the first edition and for Ahmedabad Rockets in the second edition, told The Indian Express.
When he signed on the ICL about two years ago, Sodhi was struggling to make an impression on the national arena owing to an injury and a bad phase. And like many of his Punjab team mates he too followed the ICL bandwagon, kissing goodbye to the mainstream. The players were then banned by the BCCI.
"It will be a very tough decision for any ICL player simply because ICL has been good with the players. I mean who could have thought playing alongside such amazing international players and coaches and also the support staff. We learnt a lot during these two years. But the fact that we could not represent our state or country was quite saddening. I am quite keen on my comeback into the BCCI fold," he said.
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