India's captain Virat Kohli gestures during the fourth day of the second Test cricket match between India and New Zealand at The Eden Gardens Cricket Stadium in Kolkata on October 3, 2016. DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images

The Board of Control for Cricket in India are reportedly considering a shock move which would allow Indian national players to ply their trade in overseas T20 tournaments.

Up until now, Indian players who are currently playing have not been allowed to play in any other competition than the IPL.

The BCCI have maintained the view that allowing them to do so would cheapen the image of the IPL, which has a standing as the best domestic T20 franchise league on the global cricket stage.

So much sway does the tournament have over global cricket that the next future tours programme, to be released by the ICC in the coming weeks, is set to have an extra time period where it will have exclusivity over cricket being played, with the period reportedly to be extended to two and a half months.

But with IPL franchise owners branching out and recently investing in the South African league - due to have its first edition in January - pressure has grown on the BCCI to allow Indian players to play.

Multiple reports suggest the restriction will finally be eased at the annual general meeting in September, although high-ranking players working across all three formats for the national team may not be allowed to play, which could still restrict the likes of Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah.

Despite that, Indian specialist T20 players being allowed to head overseas and gain experience in foreign conditions through domestic tournaments could produce a boost for the Indian national T20 team, which brings in staggering reach and commercial dollars for the BCCI.

The advantages to global cricket would then be cause for celebration, with TV rights for all tournaments - including the BBL and the Hundred - set to boom thanks to an uptick of interest in India itself.

It's unclear at this stage if the decision by the BCCI will come soon enough to allow Indian players to nominate for the BBL, or even if they would want to, given the lengthy tournament structure and other options likely to be on at the same time, with the inaugural South African tournament to be joined by a competition in the United Arab Emirates.

The Bangladesh Premier League also usually starts in late January and would overlap with all three tournaments, with the tournament out of the sub-continent nation gaining the likes of Chris Gayle, Colin Ingram and Andre Russell to its player ranks last season despite challenges created by the coronavirus.