People will show who gets Man of the Match: Yusuf Pathan
The World Cup-winning cricketer and Baharampur Trinamul Congress Lok Sabha candidate Yusuf Pathan on Saturday said that people will decide on the Man of the Match in the upcoming elections.
Head coach of the Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri believes that the focus of world cricket should be on playing bilateral cricket series once the sport resumes after the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, all cricketing action around the world has been suspended since March as a precautionary measure against the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.
Apart from all bilateral cricket competitions, domestic leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL) has also been suspended amid the unprecedented health emergency. There is still no clarity on whether the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played later in the year in Australia will happen as planned or not.
Shastri stated that instead of giving focus on World events, cricket boards should focus on resuming the sport with domestic competitions and bilateral series.
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“I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on world events right now. Stay at home, ensure domestic cricket comes back to normal, cricketers at all levels — international, First Class, etc — all get back on the field,” Shastri told the Times of India.
“That’s the most important bit. Second: Start with bilateral cricket. If we (India) had to choose between hosting a World Cup and a bilateral tour, obviously, we’d settle for the bilateral.”
He argued that bilateral cricket should be the way forward in the international cricketing arena.
“Instead of 15 teams flying in, we’d settle for one team flying in and playing an entire bilateral series at one or two grounds,” Shastri said.
“It’s a great opportunity for every country to focus on its domestic cricket and that should be given paramount importance.”
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