No one remembers bilateral T20 series, play the shortest format in only World Cups – Ravi Shastri

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has urged the cricket bodies to play the shortest format of the game in World Cups only.

Shastri feels no one remembers the bilateral T20 series and wants cricket to follow the footsteps of Football and the NFL. Shastri said he won’t be surprised if there are two IPLs in one year in the coming time.

IPL has taken giant strides in the last decade and it has been a powerhouse in the cricketing world. The lucrative T20 league also generates a lot of revenue for the BCCI and the board has become a dominant force because of it.

Furthermore, the fans are enjoying the IPL, especially in the Covid-19 era and its popularity has also increased manifold in the last few years.

Shastri feels the World Cup selection could be done on the basis of performance in franchise cricket and it will be a win-win situation for all.

“That is the future. The NFL can go on for seven or eight months of the year, the IPL is not far behind. You will have to break it up. Give a break to the player and come back in a new corridor (in the cricket calendar). Tomorrow there could be 140 games split 70-70, two seasons (in the same year), you never know,” said Shastri on ESPNCricinfo.

Since the 15th edition of IPL is done and dusted, former Indian all-rounder feels the fans are already missing the tournament.

“That is the way it is going to go, that is the way it has developed. You might think it’s an overdose, but nothing is an overdose in India. I have been seeing how people have watched (the tournament) these last two months, especially in these post-Covid times, and they are loving every bit of it. They are almost having withdrawal symptoms after it all got over, that they can’t have their usual scenes after 7’o’clock in the evening,” said Shastri.

Meanwhile, Shastri was India’s head coach from 2017 to 2021 and revealed he doesn’t remember a game of bilateral series in T20 format.

“There is too much of bilateral stuff going on in T20. I have said that even when I was the coach of India, I could see it happening in front of my eyes. It should go the football way, where you just play the World Cup. No one remembers bilateral matches. I don’t remember a single game in the last six seven years as coach of India. If the team wins the World Cup, they will remember it. Unfortunately, we didn’t, so I don’t remember that either. But where I am coming from is, you play franchise cricket around the world, and each country has its own franchise tournament. And then, every two years, you come and play a World Cup. Pick your teams from there and play a World Cup,” he said.

With IPL becoming a giant in cricket broadcasting, Shastri makes a valid point as far as revenue and interest of fans are concerned.