Why Indian cricketers don't play in foreign leagues?

BCCI does not want players to play in other leagues, they do not have time for other leagues as well. Beside there is permission required from BCCI for all domestic and international players. They can even ban players who play conflicting leagues for BCCI. Remember ICL(Indian Cricket League)

Quoting First Post:

The BCCI imposes this restriction not just on its international players but also on domestic players, apparently in a bid to protecting their domestic tournaments, but their real intention is to safeguard the novelty and hence revenue of its cash cow, the IPL. BCCI thinks if Indian audience gets to see their cricketers play in other tournaments, the interest in IPL will diminish. Adopting such a protectionist model in the age of free markets is terribly myopic. If a cricket league prospers anywhere in the world, BCCI prospers from it. As home to legions of fans, cricket’s win will always be India’s win. BCCI has in the past claimed that it’s a nonprofit organization. As custodians of Indian cricket, it’s incumbent on them to give their fans a chance to see their favorite cricketers play in leagues other than the IPL.

But for a change, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally thrown open the doors for India’s women cricketers to participate in international leagues across the world. The move was announced on the 1st of June during a meeting of the Women’s Cricket Committee in Mumbai.

As Philip Kendall Said in his answer, BCCI have refused all NOC applications for Indian players to play in foreign T20 tournaments ^Source. But many articles speculate few other reasons for this like,

1. Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants their players to feature in domestic competitions which take place at the same time in December and January.

2. BCCI is also keen to give their senior players a breather, as the cricketers play a number of international matches in a calendar year.

3. BCCI thinks if Indian audience gets to see their cricketers play in other tournaments, the interest in IPL will diminish.

4. Board officials say that they don't want a situation like West Indies to emerge in India where most of their top cricketers are busy playing T20 cricket by ignoring the national team.

5. BCCI thinks that if players are allowed to play in foreign leagues, it will dilute the IPL's brand (i.e; to protect IPL's revenue).

---

References:

• Why Indians don't play in foreign T20 tournaments

• Hope Indian players could play BBL in the future: Adam Gilchrist

• Big Bash League: India skipper MS Dhoni open to playing in BBL

• BCCI's refusal to allow Indian cricketers in foreign leagues depriving team of T20 specialists

• Will BCCI allow Indians to play in away leagues?

• Will BCCI allow Indian players to participate in global leagues?

I think Indian players do not play in other countries leagues like BBL, BigBash, NatWest T20 Blast, PSL etc. because of several reasons:

1. BCCI does not allow them.
2. Busy Schedule due to International matches.
3. Some players like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have a very high status. They prefer not to play in such a small league.

But in some conditions, Indian players prefer foreign league. For example, Kohli recently confirmed that he would play in a county match in England because he didn't play well in past India tour of England.