Agni Dev Chopra’s Major League Cricket (MLC) debut for MI New York on Saturday didn’t go well as the opener was dismissed for just five runs against Texas Super Kings at the Oakland Coliseum in California. The left-hander was caught by Saiteja Mukkamalla off Adam Milne.
But the biggest question is how Chopra, who played domestic cricket in India in January 2025, is allowed to play in a foreign franchise T20 league when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) doesn’t permit one to do so?
According to BCCI rules, active Indian male cricketers aren’t allowed to play in foreign T20 leagues. Even U-19 World Cup-winning former India captain Unmukt Chand had to retire from Indian cricket to play in the Bangladesh Premier League, Big Bash League and MLC.
In fact, the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, Shikhar Dhawan and Yusuf Pathan were given a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in t20 league outside India post their retirement from BCCI domestic and international cricket.
The answer to this question is Chopra is not an Indian passport holder despite being Indian. Although his parents live in Mumbai, Chopra holds a USA citizenship due to his birth in Detroit. Chopra’s decision to chase his American dream came after BCCI recently amended their policy which stated that players with Indian passport would only be allowed to compete in the domestic tournaments.
Earlier, the BCCI allowed players to play in domestic tournaments even if he had a PIO/ OCI (Person of Indian Origin/ Original Country India) card. Notably, Agni Dev’s parents are Indian citizenship holders.
Who is Agni Dev Chopra? All you need to know
Born to renowned Bollywood film director Vidhu Vinod Chopra and film critic Anupama Chopra, Agni Dev first played for Mumbai in age-level tournaments and even captained the U-19 team.
However, lack of opportunities in the senior Mumbai side, forced him to make his first-class debut for Mizoram in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy Plate group. Agvi Dev made headlines when he became the first batter to score four centuries in his first four first-class games.
Agni Dev’s scores in his first four Ranji Trophy games read 105, 101, 114, 10, 164, 15, 166 and 92. He eventually finished that Ranji Trophy season with 939 runs from six games at a strike rate of 103.30. He has also played in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy and 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.