India head coach Rahul Dravid has insisted the country does not want to end up in the same position as West Indies cricket following an unceremonious exit from the T20 World Cup, at the hands of England, on Wednesday.
India managed to muster very little resistance in the semi-final, where England cruised to a 10-wicket win after the East Asian team made 168 for 6.
The West Indies were themselves meekly dumped out of the tournament but after losing to two associate teams sotland and Ireland in the first round.
Performances at the tournament were not, however, what the former batting star was referring to, but instead the issue of India players potentially facing a disadvantage from not being allowed to play in other T20 league’s around the world.
For his part, the coach conceded that it might be disadvantageous but believes it is a necessity to protect the quality of India’s cricket.
“There is no doubt that England players have come and played in this tournament (Big Bash T20). It’s tough, it’s very difficult for Indian cricket because a lot of these tournaments happen right at the peak of our season. I think it’s a huge challenge for us. A lot of our boys do miss out on the opportunity of playing in these leagues, but it’s up to the BCCI to make that decision,” Dravid said.
“And with the kind of demand there would be for Indian players… if you allowed them to play in these leagues, we won’t have domestic cricket. Our domestic cricket, our Ranji Trophy would be finished, and that would mean Test cricket would be finished. We have to be very careful; we have to understand that Indian cricket faces or BCCI faces in a situation like this,” he added.
“A lot of boys are asked to play leagues in the middle of our season, we have seen what it has done to West Indian cricket, and I definitely don’t want Indian cricket to go that way. It would affect Ranji Trophy and Test cricket and Indian boys playing Test cricket is pretty important for the Test game as well, I would think,” Dravid said. (Sportsmax)
