48-year-old spinner Pravin Tambe on Wednesday became the first Indian and the oldest cricketer to feature in the Caribbean Premier League when he took to the field for Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR).
Tambe was included in the TIR squad for their match against St Lucia Zouks in place of star all-rounder Sunil Narine. The cricketer from Mumbai is also the first-ever Indian who was signed by a CPL franchise.
TKR owner Shah Rukh Khan’s other franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), had also roped in Tambe for this season of the IPL at the auctions in December last year. He had thus become the oldest player to be sold at the auctions. However, he was later disqualified by IPL’s Governing Council for featuring in the T10 League in the UAE.
“BCCI rules strictly say that an Indian player has to be exclusively playing in the IPL or he has to stay away from the cash-rich league and participate in other leagues across the globe. To have sent in his name for the T10 draft and now to also be a part of the IPL is clearly against the BCCI protocol. So, he can’t play,” a BCCI functionary told IANS in January.
Tambe made his IPL debut at the age of 41 in 2013. He has so far played 33 matches in all IPL editions picking up 28 wickets.
Meanwhile, TKR won the rain-affected contest against the Zouks by six wickets with the help of D/L method. Batting first, Zouks were batting at 111/6 when the match was suspended.
Following resumption, TKR were handed a revised target of 72 runs in nine overs. The Kieron Pollard-led side scored the runs with an over to spare.