“No one remembers bilateral tournaments”- Ravi Shastri suggests having two IPL seasons in a year like football

“No one remembers bilateral tournaments”- Ravi Shastri suggests having two IPL seasons in a year like football

Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that IPL should be played like football, with two seasons. He wanted reductions of bilateral series because, according to him, no one remembers them and international cricket should be only played at the World Cups.

“Yes, absolutely, there’s too much bilateral stuff going on in T20 cricket. I’ve said that [before], 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, in T20 cricket, you just play the World Cup. Bilateral tournaments – no one remembers,” Ravi Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s Runorder program.

“I don’t remember a single game in the last six-seven years as coach of India, barring the World Cup. A team wins the World Cup, they will remember it. Unfortunately, we didn’t, so I don’t remember that either. Where I am coming from is: you play franchise cricket around the globe; each country is allowed to have their franchise cricket, which is their domestic cricket, and then, every two years, you come and play a World Cup,” he added.

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According to him, each country should have their franchise cricket, which is their domestic cricket and in every two years, they should come and play a World Cup. “It could be tomorrow – 140 games, split 70-70 into two seasons. You never know,” he added .

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“It could well happen”- Ian Bishop on two IPL seasons

Ravi Shastri
Daniel Vettori and Ian Bishop

Even former veteran cricketers Ian Bishop believes that it could happen and Daniel Vettori opined that it can be easily sorted with remuneration and another window being carved out, which the BCCI has the power to do.

Ian Bishop said: “It could well happen. You talk about American sport – I know Dan watches his baseball, I watch a lot of NBA basketball, and each team plays 70-odd games a season. There’s the All-Star break in between where they get a week off, but it is really stretched.”

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