Cricket / BCCI should consider allowing 5 overseas players per team in IPL: Aakash

Cricket Desk: The IPL 2021 is nearing its successful completion with only a handful of league fixtures remaining. CSK and DC are on the top slots currently and RCB has also qualified for the playoffs while the hunt for the fourth team is on. In the same sequence, cricket analyst Aakash Chopra has suggested BCCI to ‘seriously consider’ five overseas players in the XI of all the franchises.

Chopra possibly asked for this move to maintain the quality of the tournament and avoid seeing the same teams on the top again and again. The commentator added that only four teams dominate in the IPL while the rest struggle all the time and this issue will deepen when BCCI will introduce two new teams from next year’s IPL.

“This is going to be an issue… because if the teams that are considered good on paper like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, and now RCB are always at the top and the rest are seen struggling consistently, the problem might just be in player acquisition. If playing four overseas players and seven Indian players isn’t helping to maintain the standard over a period of time, what will happen when ten teams arrive?” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.

This will mean keeping 10-11 overseas players in the squad: Aakash Chopra

Chopra stated that BCCI should be allowing five overseas players in the XI of the team and this should be left on franchises if they wish to use that combination or not. Allowing five overseas stars would mean teams should be having 10-11 foreigners in their backyard.

“I believe BCCI should seriously consider allowing five overseas players per team. This will mean keeping 10-11 overseas players in the squad. Those who want to play five overseas players can and those who don’t, no problem at all,” he added.

It has to be noted that BCCI currently allows playing a maximum of four overseas players in the playing XI and a team can have up to eight foreign players in their overall squad. It will be a thing to see what tweaks the Indian board might introduce with the introduction of two new teams.