Former Team India cricketer Aakash Chopra has suggested an extravagant idea of allowing five overseas cricketers in playing XI from the next season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Chopra’s comments come after BCCI decided to expand the tournament to ten teams from IPL 2022.
Currently, BCCI has postponed the competition in the wake of a couple of COVID-19 cases that emerged among the players and support staffs. After postponing a couple of games, the governing body thought it would be safe to stop the tournament midway considering that there are plenty of stakeholders involved. Sourav Ganguly & Co faces a daunting task challenge ahead of them to host the remainder of IPL 2021 later this year.
Increase the number of overseas players to 5 – Aakash Chopra
While the fate of this year’s tournament is under clouds, Aakash Chopra has an eye on IPL 2022. The 15th edition of IPL will witness two new teams making it a ten-team affair. The change will see the lucrative league being a ten-franchise event for the first time since 2011. With the dynamics of IPL changing next year, Aakash Chopra wants to see an increase in the number of overseas players allowed in the playing XI. The cricketer-turned-commentator believes the change is necessary to maintain the standard of the game.
“IPL should allow five overseas players in the playing eleven come next season when you have as many as ten teams. The reason for me saying that is that quality has to be paramount. IPL has succeeded, it has been the best T20 league in the world for a variety of reasons. One key element is the quality of cricket that is played on the park,” Chopra said to ESPNcricinfo.
Aakash Chopra has followed the game very closely being the commentator for almost a decade now. His analysis and predictions have been spot on and now he has come up with this innovative idea of increasing the number of overseas cricketers to keep up IPL’s essence.
“You can only ensure it (the quality of IPL) if you have five overseas players now. Because it is alright to have eight teams – seven Indians and four overseas players. Some teams are blessed with a lot of Indians but not most teams. So if you play five, then you can maintain the quality,” Aakash Chppra added.
