On 31 July 2021, it was reported that foreign cricketers were requested by the Indian cricket board (BCCI) against taking part in the inaugural Kashmir Premier League cricket tournament. Former
Pakistani wicket keeper
Rashid Latif tweeted that BCCI is warning other cricket boards that if their former players took part in Kashmir Premier League, they won't be allowed entry in India or allowed to work in Indian cricket at any level or in any capacity. Former
South African cricketer
Herschelle Gibbs, who played for the Overseas Warriors, also accused
BCCI of pressuring him to not play in the KPL. The Pakistan cricket board (PCB) expressed displeasure at the reports that BCCI is trying to prevent players from joining the tournament and said that it would raise the issue with the relevant
ICC forum. Responding to Gibbs and the PCB, the BCCI said that they are well within their rights to take decisions with respect to the cricketing ecosystem in India. On 1 August 2021, former
England spinner
Monty Panesar pulled out of the tournament. He took to
Twitter to reveal the news and said that, "I have decided not to participate in the KPL because of the political tensions between India and Pakistan over Kashmir issues. I don't want to be in the middle of this, it would make me feel uncomfortable." Panesar further said in an interview that "BCCI had 'advised' him that if he played in the event, the 'consequences' of his decision could include not being granted a visa to India in the future and not being allowed to work in the country." On 2 August 2021, the BCCI urged ICC not to recognise the Kashmir Premier League due to the disputed nature of Kashmir region between India and Pakistan. In response, the ICC clarified that the tournament doesn't come under their jurisdiction as it is not an international tournament. The 2021 KPL received 15 million views within the first 5 matches and broke the record for Pakistan’s most viewed live sports event launch on digital media. The president of the KPL, Arif Malik, said that the BCCI’s efforts to stop the league only popularised it instead. In June 2022, four franchises of the KPL (Bagh Stallions, Mirpur Royals, Muzaffarabad Tigers and Rawalakot Hawks) wrote a letter to the PCB, requesting that the PCB withhold the
NOC for the 2022 KPL. They cited the tournament management’s inefficiency to handle all of the matters properly. The main concerns were that an audit report was not provided for the
first season and a league committee was not formed despite this being included in their agreement. The PCB also said that they would issue a NOC if certain conditions were met. The PCB later issued an NOC after the KPL provided all the requested documents. A league committee was also formed on 7 July 2022. During the 2022 KPL, the KPL terminated Kotli Lions’ management after they weren’t able to pay outstanding payments. Kotli Lions’ head coach
Saeed Azad left the team and was replaced by
Mushtaq Ahmed. The KPL management temporarily took over Kotli Lions. The KPL also terminated the Overseas Warriors’ management after they were unable to pay their players. Zeeshan Altaf Lohya was later given ownership of Overseas Warriors. In January 2023, the KPL management sent a legal notice to Kingdom Valley, sponsors of the 2022 KPL, for not paying the agreed amounts to the KPL. The KPL management claimed that Kingdom Valley still had to pay 137 million. The KPL also claimed that they still had to pay players 90 million which they could only pay after receiving payments from sponsors. The owner of Kingdom Valley, Ghulam Hussain Shahid, claimed that the KPL had begged him to sponsor the tournament and had asked him to pay 40 million in advance and to pay the rest whenever he wanted. He also claimed that he had to pay all government taxes while the KPL paid none. In May 2023,
Dawn reported that a number of umpires in the 2022 KPL had still not received their payments. A KPL spokesperson said that these payments had not been made due to huge losses incurred from the tournament but will be cleared soon. == See also ==