'Is IPL bullying other boards?': Aakash Chopra reacts as SA players skip Bangladesh Tests for T20 league

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has reacted to the decision of a number of prominent South African cricketers to prioritise Indian Premier League (IPL) over playing for their nationl team by skipping the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh at home for IPL 2022. South African players with an IPL contract have not been named in their country's Test squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh.

South African skipper Dean Elgar, who had earlier requested his players to not skip the Test series against Bangladesh, has now been left with a number of first-choice players and an almost second-fiddle squad for the two Tests against the visitors. South Africa are scheduled to play three ODIs followed by two Tests against Bangladesh.

While the IPL-bound players will be part of the ODI series, they will travel to India following the conclusion of the three limited-overs games and skip the two Tests against Bangladesh. The Proteas players' decision to head to the IPL and not turn up for their national team has once again raised the club vs country debate with regards to the Indian Premier League.

Reacting to the move by the South African stars, former India cricketer Chopra asked if IPL has started bullying cricket boards across the globe? However, the popular commentator defended IPL by stating that CSA itself issues no-objection certificates to the players and also earns a part of the players' salary from IPL.

"The question that stems from this is - Is club bigger than the country? The club versus country debate has caught a little fire again. Dean Elgar had said this will be a loyalty test. The question is - Is IPL bullying the other boards?" said Chopra in a video on his YouTube channel.

"IPL has not said anything, IPL in fact says that when Cricket South Africa gives the NOC (No Objection Certificate), they get 10% from the players' salary. This is how the market of international cricket works," he added.

Also Read:'CSA not at liberty to refuse': IPL bound-players not named in South Africa's squad for Bangladesh Tests

Chopra also insisted that players should not be made scapegoats for choosing to play IPL or other franchise cricket over the country and that the decision should be of the country's cricket board.

"Do not make players make this difficult choice. The club versus country conflict will keep continuing, there will be different opinions on it but the fact is the players will choose IPL ahead of bilateral commitments and the boards will not be able to stop it," said Chopra.

"Let's be honest, there are a lot of players - Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram. There is nothing known about Anrich Nortje at the moment, neither is he playing for his country nor does it seem that he will play the IPL," he added.