The fast-bowler believed that more cricketers needed to voice their opinions against the idea of making changes to the Test format
06 January, 2020
PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan’s legendary former pacer Shoaib Akhtar, in a Youtube video on Sunday, claimed that the idea of four-day Test cricket was a conspiracy against Asian countries which rely on spinners in order to compete at the highest level of the sport.
Akhtar believed that more cricketers needed to voice their opinions against the idea of making changes which would hurt the longer format.
“The idea of four-day Test cricket is a conspiracy against Asian teams. Virat Kohli rightly called out this move. Sachin Tendulkar also made a statement against the proposal because the move would hurt the spinners the most. He is a 100 percent right. What will the spinners do if this happens? What are you trying to do?” he said.
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The Rawalpindi Express claimed that the International Cricket Council (ICC) could not make a move without the permission of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) while talking about the proposed change in five-day Test cricket to a new format of four days.
“With the BCCI present, the ICC will not have the guts to implement this change without their permission. This can never happen. I want more people from countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to come forward and give a statement about this idea. Five-day cricket is already on the decline,” Akhtar said. “India needs to take a step forward because they are fund raisers when it comes to cricket. They should make sure that this format stays alive.”
Akhtar stated that the current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly was a smart man, who would not allow an idea like this to be implemented.
“I think this is an absurd idea. Nobody should be interested in it. Sourav Ganguly is the BCCI president. He is a smart man and knows about the game. He will not allow things like this to happen. He will never want to damage Test cricket,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, the ICC looks set to reflect on the idea of making Test matches four-day affairs to free up a crammed international calendar and reduce player workload.
Australia have said they will seriously consider the concept, while England will back making it mandatory from 2023. The cash-rich BCCI are yet to declare their stance on the matter.
