Aakash Chopra Throws His Support Behind Michael Vaughan's Suggestion Of BCCI Allowing Fringe Indian Players To Play In The Hundred

Former Indian cricketer-turned commentator Aakash Chopra has concurred with Michael Vaughan’s suggestion of the BCCI allowing fringe Indian players to feature in the Hundred to enable the Test series against England players to be brought forward.

With the BCCI desperate to complete the remainder of the IPL which was suspended earlier this month due to multiple Covid cases and the English counties proposing to host the cash-rich league in the UK, there are reports in the media that the BCCI have requests the ECB to prepone the five-match Test series.

Bringing forward the start and finish of the Test series, which is currently expected to take place between August 04-September 15- will give the BCCI a three-week window to complete the remaining 31 games of IPL 2021.

But if the ECB brings forward the fixtures, it will jeopardize the chances of marquee England players participating in the Hundred. The inaugural season of the Hundred is expected to take place between July 22- August 21 and the Test players are expected to feature in the first three rounds of the competition.

Michael Vaughan recently came up with what he termed as a ‘simple solution’:  allow fringe Indian players to play in the Hundred as compensation for the absence of English players and prepone the Test series to allow the IPL to take place in September.

Simple solution .. Play the First Indian Test a week earlier .. No England Test players would then potentially play the 100 so Fringe Indian Test players replace them .. Then the IPL can finish .. Good deal all round .. #ENGvIND

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 20, 2021

Aakash Chopra, in his latest video on his Youtube channel, concurred with the idea.

“I liked Michael Vaughan’s suggestion a lot. If you are taking care of my interests, it is my duty to take care of your interests. So, if you start the Test series a week earlier, we will release our fringe players for The Hundred,” said Aakash Chopra.

The BCCI has long held a policy of not allowing Indian cricketers to participate in foreign leagues. But Aakash Chopra believes that given the current situation, the BCCI can make an exception to their stance.

‘’They can have 4-5 Indian players for The Hundred. To date, no current Indian player has been allowed in any of the world’s T20 leagues. But we make an exception for this one tournament,” added Aakash Chopra.

The cricketer-turned commentator further added that given the amount of money the BCCI stands to lose if the IPL doesn’t get completed this year, the ECB might agree to their counterpart’s request.

‘If BCCI is going to suffer a loss of 2500 crores, if they ask ECB to adjust, I think ECB will agree. I feel the IPL will happen in September, we will get a three-week window, where it will happen I don’t know yet,” signed off Aakash Chopra.

Also Read: Michael Vaughan Offers A ‘Simple Solution’ To BCCI And ECB To Finish The Test Series And IPL 2021 In The English Summer