“Allow 5 overseas players in a playing XI in the IPL” - Aakash Chopra explains why he wants a rule change for next season

Former India batter Aakash Chopra has batted for the inclusion of five overseas players in playing XIs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). According to Chopra, since the old franchises are likely to retain big Indian names ahead of the mega auction, the two new franchises might not be left with a lot of good Indian players to pick from.

On Monday, the BCCI announced industrialist Sanjiv Goenka's RPSG group and private equity fund CVC Capital Partners as the two owners of the new IPL franchises. While RPSG Group bagged the Lucknow franchise for ₹7,090 crore, CVC got Ahmedabad for ₹5,625 crore.

Analyzing the changes that would come in with the addition of two franchises for the upcoming IPL season, Chopra pointed out that the new teams would be at a slight disadvantage when it comes to picking Indian players. He suggested while speaking on his YouTube channel:

“Allow five overseas players in a playing XI in the IPL. Right now we have four and I think it dilutes the competition a bit. Five overseas players should be allowed to feature in a playing XI. Of course, franchises can field eleven Indians if they want, but I feel at least there should be the option of allowing five overseas cricketers to feature in the playing XI. Whether or not they play is a different matter altogether.”

Elaborating on how the option to play an additional overseas cricketer in the playing XI can help new IPL franchises, Chopra said:

“If a particular franchise has not been able to pick too many good Indian players, this will come in handy. For example, if each team is allowed to retain three players ahead of the auction and all of them retain three Indian players each, that makes it a total of 24 Indian cricketers who will not be available for the auction. If so, from where will the two new teams pick good Indian players?"

The 44-year-old continued:

"Obviously, nobody can stop the franchises from retaining players. So the new franchises may have money, but they might not be able to put together good teams due to lack of options. In such a case, these franchises can utilize more overseas players and build their Indian core gradually.”

While nothing is official yet, according to reports each existing IPL franchise would be allowed to retain three to four players.

“This should be the last IPL mega auction for the next 5-6 years” - Aakash Chopra

A mega auction will take place ahead of next year’s IPL, where most of the players will go under the hammer again.

Aakash Chopra suggested that no more mega auctions should be held over the next few years. Explaining his views, the cricketer-turned-comentator said:

“This should be the last IPL mega auction for the next 5-6 years. After this, there should only be normal auctions for the next few years. The trade window can also be opened in between for the transfer of players. If there are too many big auctions, IPL as a brand is not going to grow. You want to associate players with their respective franchises. If players are not part of a team for a longer duration, you won’t invest in the players, nor can you maintain that loyalty.”

The 2021 edition of the IPL concluded recently with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final.