Shoaib Akhtar Fears Cricket To Be Reduced To Just World Cups, T20 Leagues

Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar fears that international cricket would be reduced to just a couple of World Cups and the T20 leagues if the International Cricket Council (ICC) does not take any drastic steps now

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Jul, 2020 ) :Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar fears that international cricket would be reduced to just a couple of World Cups and the T20 leagues if the International Cricket Council (ICC) does not take any drastic steps now.

"I can tell you one thing, if you don't go with justice for the next two years, there will be only two World Cups and ten leagues happening. If the ICC wants to go that route, then please do that so. It is your wish, we can only talk about cricket being destroyed but can't do anything," he said in a YouTube interview.

According to Shoaib, the rules of the game had been changed to benefit the batsmen. "You've to give permission for bodyline bowling. You've have tied the hands of the fast bowlers. What type of cricket are you organising, two new balls with a restriction on bouncers, what do you want that the bowlers should go there just to be hit?" he asked.

He said that there were hardly any fast bowlers left in the game. "There are only three fast bowlers left in the world, including Cummins who is sometimes unfit and another Jofra Archer who was bowling at 150 kph but now bowling at 132 kph." He said that cricket had undergone a steady decline from the glory days of the past. "Till the time you don't go with justice, cricket will keep going down. If you want someone to score 20000 odd runs, it is your wish. It doesn't affect me. If you don't make cricket better, it does not impact my era." "The fans of our era are still our fans. The way we played cricket will always be remembered. Whether it be the West Indies' era or our era of the 90s and even after that, we have had big Names.

People remember that era." Shoaib claimed that the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup could have taken place but were sacrificed for the sake of the IPL.

"Asia Cup could have definitely happened, it would have been a great chance for India and Pakistan to play against each other. There are many reasons behind this, I don't want to get into that.

"T20 World Cup could have also taken place, but I had said this earlier that they won't let it happen." The former pacer asked BCCI to play its role and save the game. "I give a suggestion that India should save cricket today. If they don't save it, it's fine, it doesn't impact my era. My matches with Sachin Tendulkar are still remembered today." "You will not get to watch quality cricket. When I was with Star sports the viewership was 80 million and when I left it was down to 45 million in India alone. What is the following for cricket in Pakistan other than the Champions Trophy that we won." Shoaib hinted at the BCCI using their power to get results in their favour, including Harbhajan Singh escaping a ban after supposedly using a racist slur against Andrew Symonds.

"Sometimes they get easy wickets in Melbourne, at times someone calls another person a monkey but gets saved, the talk goes to boycotting the series. I am asking the Australians, where are their ethics?""You made kids cry for scratching a cricket ball and they got away by calling someone a monkey. They [BCCI] said to end the series and they [Australian Board] said no such incident happened."