While making warm-up matches mandatory in SENA countries is a wonderful concept, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has stated that the BCCI and other boards must make sure that the standard of those matches is maintained with top-notch opponents.

Devajit Saikia, Gautam Gambhir, and VVS Laxman attended a high-level discussion hosted by the BCCI ahead of the forthcoming Twenty20 International series between India and Afghanistan. Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill were also invited to the talks.

However, Chopra, while welcoming the decision of warm-up games, questioned how the BCCI will ensure that the quality of these matches will be maintained.

“If you are going to SENA countries, there will be mandatory warm-up games. There was an era when the England tour used to last the entire summer. It was a four-month tour where you played seven matches against county teams," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“Theoretically, it isn’t wrong, but I don’t know how to maintain the quality of those games. I don’t have the answer for that at the moment because, at the time I am talking about, the teams used to be good and they used to almost beat us. Now they play their second-team players, saying the match has no significance. So that one thing is still missing. The quality will have to be maintained a little," Chopra added.

The warm-up games would offer greater preparation before a series than shadow A-team tours, according to Chopra, who called it a positive move.

Chopra noted the fitness and injury worries around Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, while also stating that the players' workloads would be monitored.

“The players’ workload will remain under focus because there is IPL along with international cricket, and if you see, Hardik Pandya has not played for a long time, and Jasprit Bumrah has also missed a lot of cricket," Chopra said.