BCCI grants amnesty to 79 rebel players

NEW DELHI, Jun 2 (AP): The Indian cricket board said Tuesday it has given an amnesty to 79 players who want to sever their ties with the unofficial Twenty20 Indian Cricket League and return to mainstream competition."Seventy-nine current players and 11 former test cricketers have severed their relations with the Indian Cricket League and applied for rejoining the mainstream of Indian cricket under the amnesty scheme offered by BCCI," the Board of Control for Cricket in India's secretary, Narainswamy Srinivasan said.The players had participated in the rebel Indian Cricket League(ICL) for the past two years in a direct challenge to the BCCI'sauthority.The ICL had attracted several Indian and foreign cricketers, who were suspended by their respective national cricket boards as the International Cricket Council (ICC) backed the Indian board's authority to sanction all cricket played in its territory.