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Pakistan should play T20Is instead of Tests during upcoming England tour: Latif

The 51-year-old believed that the Men in Green could play up to six or seven T20Is against England

Pakistan should play T20Is instead of Tests during upcoming England tour: Latif PHOTO: AFP

Pakistan’s former wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif, in a YouTube video on Tuesday, claimed that Pakistan should play Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) instead of Tests during their upcoming tour of England.

The 51-year-old believed that the Men in Green could play up to six or seven T20Is against England while making a case against playing Test cricket for at least six months.

“There should be options at the two board’s disposal as far as the Test series is concerned. I would not go for Test matches at the initial six-month stage. The next event is the T20 World Cup. I would ask them for six or seven T20 matches instead of the Tests. T20s happen in just one day, if we want to look at it financially,” Latif said.

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The former captain claimed that playing the shortest format could provide both England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with a financial cushion during these hard times.

“Playing T20s could provide both boards with a cushion during these hard times. This would also help the team prepare for the upcoming global event. We don’t know yet if the event will go as planned in Australia because all governments will create new policies due to the epidemic,” he said.

Latif stated that this would be a tough decision and we would have to wait for the policies being created by the governments and their respective boards in dealing with this epidemic.

“This is not an easy decision to make. We will have to wait and see what the situation is along with the policies being formed by the ECB, United Kingdom’s government and the PCB. The PCB cannot just accept the ECB’s invitation and go there because they can make money. This involves traveling which is the greatest challenge. The players will be at risk which makes this a hard decision,” he concluded.