New Delhi: The Indian cricket board's technical panel has proposed barring foreign players from domestic tournaments, except the lucrative Indian Premier League.
The technical committee, headed by former test skipper Sunil Gavaskar, recommended the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) overturn its recent policy that permitted state teams to register and field one foreigner in domestic events.
"The technical committee has proposed that foreign players should not be permitted to play in domestic tournaments from the 2009-10 season onward," BCCI secretary Narainswamy Srinivasan said in a statement.
The technical committee's proposals will be considered by the BCCI working committee.
Cricket board's spokesman Devendra Prabhudesai told The Associated Press that this decision will not apply to the IPL, a domestic Twenty20 competition that attracts top players from around the world.
A few foreign players have turned out for state teams in the first-class Ranji Trophy championship in recent years.
The BCCI last year allowed teams to register one foreign player, who must have played at least 10 Tests or 20 limited-overs internationals. After this criteria was announced, only Maharashtra fielded a foreign player - Bangladesh spinner Enamul Haque.
Maharashtra had intended to hire Sri Lanka paceman Sujeewa de Silva, but he did not meet the criteria, having played just three Tests.
Other foreigners to have featured recently in India's domestic competitions were England internationals Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali, both of whom played for Rajasthan in 2006-07.
Haque, Solanki and Ali all failed to make a mark during their Ranji Trophy appearances.
Another English player, Nayan Doshi - son of former India spinner Dilip Doshi - turned out in the Ranji Trophy for Saurashtra for four seasons between 2001 and 2005.
