‘No One is Given the IPL Contract Because he is the son of Someone’s Friend’- Aakash Chopra

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has denied any kind of nepotism in the Indian Premier League or even in the higher level of cricket in India. However, he went on to say that it is still prevalent in the lower levels of domestic cricket. 

Aakash spoke on the issue on his Youtube channel show AakashVani as he backed the higher levels of selection authority by citing a few examples of Rohan Gavaskar and Arjun Tendulkar who are the sons of the Indian cricket greats Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar respectively. 

Rohan Gavaskar had struggled on his part to make a cut in the Indian cricket team while Arjun is still working hard to get a place in the Indian team. 

“I have seen it happening in a state team where a player was a captain for a long time. He was an administrator’s son, not a player’s. He was not a very good player and his stats also show it. But at the highest level, it never happens. No one is given an IPL contract because he is someone’s friend’s son or someone’s nephew,”  Aakash said. 

Rohan had performed really well for Bengal in the domestic circuit as Aakash backed his selection in the Indian team then by saying:

“And when he played for India, it was because he was always doing very well for Bengal. In fact, forget all this, he didn’t even play for the Mumbai Ranji team. He didn’t get his place on the Mumbai team, even though he had a surname like Gavaskar.” 

In his short International career that comprised of just 11 ODI matches, Rohan scored 151 runs. He has played 117 first-class matches and scored 6938 runs at an average of 44.19. 

Aakash also spoke about Arjun Tendulkar, saying that even the young lad didn’t get enough chance in the Indian Cricket Team and whenever he gets selected in the Indian team, it would solely because of his hard work and consistency at the domestic level.