Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni should be allowed to play in foreign leagues: Aakash Chopra
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes that retired Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni should be given the NOCs for going ahead and playing in foreign leagues.
Players like Yuvraj Singh have played in foreign leagues like Global T20 Canada and the Abu Dhabi T10 league, and Aakash Chopra believes that even MS Dhoni and Raina must get an opportunity to do the same.
MS Dhoni announced his retirement on August 15, and Suresh Raina soon followed him into retirement. He was the first Indian batsman to score a century across all three formats, and on his day, could take the game away from the opposition in a flash.
Aakash Chopra believes that one of the main reasons why BCCI do not want their players to play in foreign leagues is because of injury concerns. But if both Raina and MS Dhoni are unavailable for national selection, Chopra feels there is no reason to stop them from playing in foreign leagues.
"I think they should be allowed because if they have retired and if they are not presenting themselves for selection for the Indian team then there should be no harm in letting them go. There are two sides of this story, one is workload management. BCCI does not let their contracted players go to play in overseas leagues because they do not want to risk an injury scare and thus they are paying them enough money to stay put," Aakash Chopra said on his Youtube channel.
I don't see MS Dhoni playing in more foreign leagues but Raina will want to play more: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra also believes that if BCCI allows its marquee players to play in foreign leagues, then the excitement of the marquee players facing off against each other in the IPL will get reduced.
"Second side is that the BCCI does not want to let go of its marquee players. Because if Indian marquee players will begin playing in other leagues then there will be no novelty left of the IPL. So I think Dhoni and Raina should be allowed to play. Just imagine how much fun it would be to see them playing. I don't see Dhoni playing in foreign leagues but Suresh Raina is just 33 and he will want to play more cricket," Aakash Chopra asserted.
It will be interesting to see what the BCCI decides if MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina apply for NOCs for playing in foreign leagues, given that they won't be playing international cricket anymore.