Afridi wants to see T20 World Cup coming to UAE in future
Pakistan star wants Indian cricketers to play in other franchise leagues
Shahid Afridi wants the UAE to stage the International Cricket Council (ICC) World T20 World Cup tournament in future. Always a darling of the cricket fans here, he now spends more time in the UAE playing for the franchise cricket leagues being held here.
Speaking to Gulf News on yesterday evening, Afridi said: “It will be a great initiative to bring the Twenty20 World Cup here because expatriates from all countries are here and they can get to watch it. The venues here such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have proved to be ideal for T20 cricket. The T20 World Cup is a big event and ICC should think about staging it here.”
Afridi makes no bones about his opinion that shorter format cricket is the future.
“More people are taking interest in formats like T20 and T10. They are good formats for entertainment and cricket is meant to entertain the people and today all are enjoying the short format,” said Afridi, who will be one among the leading players in the oncoming UAE T20x tournament to be held from December 19 to January 11.
“UAE T20x will be another opportunity for all the players taking part in it, especially the local talent in UAE. It is a good opportunity for them to learn from the big names that will play in the tournament by sharing the dressing room with them.”
The former Pakistan captain wants Indian cricketers to play in all leagues around the world.
“When you are playing in a league, you are also supporting the cricket of that country which is hosting the league. Indian players should therefore play in leagues other than the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“I am now here to play in [the] Afghanistan Premier League, which means I am supporting Afghanistan cricket. Business is different, obviously as a professional we are taking the money to play, still we have to support each other in cricket. The big names in cricket coming and sharing a dressing room with youngsters and sharing their experience means a lot for all youngsters,” he said. ■
Afridi makes no bones about his opinion that shorter format cricket is the future, saying “More people are taking interest in formats like T20 and T10. They are good formats for entertainment...”