Lara welcome says Indian Premier League organisers

NEW DELHI, India - Brian Lara is welcome to join next year's Indian Premier League.

This is the word from a senior official of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but there is a caveat.

The former West Indies captain and batting superstar would have to first cut all ties with the organisers of the controversial Indian Cricket League which begins on November 30 in Panchkula.

"He would have to terminate his ICL contract in such a case," BCCI Vice President Rajeev Shukla.

Lara is one of several former international stars that have jumped at the offer to play in the lucrative ICL.

Shukla noted that they were all welcome to join the IPL, once they too, rejected their contracts with the ICL.

The news however, was not so encouraging for fringe Indian players.

"There is no plan to take them back," Shukla said. "We've been approached by a number of players who have aligned with ICL.

"They want to play for their states and want to come back. But as of now, the BCCI has not arrived on a consensus about a general amnesty to them."

The BCCI launched the IPL in order to counter the ICL.

Some of the fringe domestic players and foreign cricketers like Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris Cairns, and Daryl Cullinan have joined the ICL.

The board has barred all domestic cricketers, who joined the ICL, from playing in board-run tournaments.