Not being part of any advertisement involving alcohol, fast food and/or fast-food restaurants, tobacco and betting are some of the many restrictions that Cricket Australia has imposed on its players involved in the Indian Premier League.
A guideline conveyed to all franchises by the Board of Control for Cricket in India and released by Cricket Australia carries all the information about the restrictions imposed on Aussie players, playing in the IPL.
"A full team photo - for use only by the sponsors of the relevant IPL team in print media in India and any such photo should not involve or include the name or branding of a company primarily engaged in the business of alcohol, fast food/fast-food restaurants, tobacco or betting," said the BCCI’ letter to the franchises as quoted by Cricbuzz.
The CA also made it clear that not more than one Australian cricketer on a contract by CA, or any other State Board or a BBL team can be part of any advertisement in any media outlet.
"In any specific advertising or promotional activity featuring any Australian player (in any medium including TV, radio, press, outdoor, internet, point of sales or on-pack advertising), each Franchisee may only use: (a) no more than 1 Player who has a Central Contract with Cricket Australia; and/or; (b) no more than 1 Australian Player from the same Australian State; and (c) no more than 1 Australian Player from the same Big Bash team," the letter said.
The mail further reads, "By way of example: A Franchisee may, subject to compliance with the remainder of these Player Regulations, the Player ID guidelines and the Player Contract, use three Australian players in any advertising material as long as no more than one has a Central Contract and all three are from different States and Big Bash teams." More specifically, a team cannot use two New South Wales (an Australian State) or Sydney Sixers (a BBL side) players in one campaign.
This ploy has been adopted by CA mainly to make sure that their own advertisement policies and their contracts with prime sponsors are not ambushed by a rival board. For example, KFC, a fast-food chain that is the principal sponsor of Big Bash League the primary T20 tournament of Australia, would not want the same Australian players to be seen endorsing in any other similar brand.