Why Agni Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra's son, is part of Major League Cricket despite strict BCCI laws for Indian players
The reason is simple: Agni Chopra was born in Detroit, Michigan, and doesn't hold an Indian passport. As a result, he is exempt from the BCCI's rules on participation in overseas leagues, but due to new rules, is also not eligible for participation in domestic cricket under new laws.
Chopra broke out in the 23/24 Ranji Trophy season for Mizoram, becoming the first player to score First Class centuries in each of his first four matches. His strong form would continue into this season, where he finished as the leading run-scorer in the group stage of the Ranji Trophy Plate Division. For amassing 939 runs in 23/24, Chopra was one of the recipients of the Madhavrao Scindia Award, granted to the players with the most runs and wickets in the Ranji Trophy's two-league format. He backed it up with an 865-run performance this season, at a whopping average of 123.57.
As a US citizen but not subject to the BCCI's statute, Agni was able to enter the draft for the 2025 MLC season. He was picked up by MI New York for USD 50,000, and is set to be their opener for the current season. He didn't have an ideal start to the MLC season, scoring only 5(7) in MINY's opener vs Texas Super Kings and 8(8) against San Francisco Unicorns, but this remains a ticked box for the batter.
As per Chopra, not being picked up in the IPL this season despite his strong domestic record prompted him to opt out of applying for an Indian passport, thereby making himself eligible to play in his country of birth.
'I would have still applied for an Indian passport and stayed if I had been picked in the Indian Premier League but [I am] looking forward to my time in America now,' he had explained to Times of India in an interview.
As a result, Agni isn't one of those players who had to announce their retirement and apply for an NOC from the board, such as Yuvraj Singh for the Global T20 League in Canada, or Unmukt Chand, who retired from Indian cricket and declared for USA in 2021, and is subsequently also participating in the MLC.
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