New Delhi, August 21:

India’s World Cup-winning skipper Kapil Dev was sacked as head of the national academy for joining an unofficial league that has challenged the cricket board’s authority.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said it had sacked Dev from the honorary position as chairman of the National Cricket Academy with immediate effect. The decision was made at the cricket board’s special general meeting in Mumbai, a day after Dev released the list of 51 players who had signed up for the rival league. The board also said it would debar all Indian players featuring in the rival Indian Cricket League (ICL) from playing in domestic and international competitions.

Promoted by a TV company, the ICL will feature six teams in Twenty-20 matches between October and November. The ICL has drawn a comparison with Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket that split the sport in the 1970s.

Dev’s appointment was scheduled to run until September 28. Dev, captain of India’s 1983 World Cup champion team, had dared the Indian board to sack him as chairman of the national academy, insisting he was doing nothing wrong by promoting cricket. Dev heads the ICL’s executive board.

Sandip Patil, Madan Lal and Balwinder Sandhu, all members of the 1983 World Cup champion team, have joined Dev in signing up with the league. They have coaching assignments for the ICL teams.