Cricket in the modern era is expanding into shorter formats. Former Pakistani pacer Shoaib Akhtar says that since the introduction of T20 cricket, some players have chosen to focus on the shorter formats over Test cricket, and that is just how the game is.As the current ILT20’s brand ambassador, Shoaib Akhtar discussed the impending arrival of franchised league tournaments and expressed his belief that these events would inevitably grow in popularity due to the player incentives and compensation.
According to his opinion, athletes must set goals for themselves and arrange their schedules. They must also accept a demanding schedule that requires them to manage both league tournaments and the national teams at the same time.
“We must choose the priorities. The players now have to schedule their year around both the league schedules and their national team. The players find it challenging to balance their careers since they play far too much Twenty20 cricket. However, this is the path ahead, correct? And for broadcasters, this is the way to go,” Shoaib Akhtar stated to the Hindustan Times.
“because they are requesting that cricket be played under the shortest format. This generation’s attention span has been shortened to one or two hours. The priorities have shifted, as I mentioned. Yet, he continued, “I’m happy that cricket is becoming more popular; I want this game to be played everywhere, not just in a few places.
Thank God I’m not performing in this time period. Shoaib Akhtar
In addition, Shoaib Akhtar had a funny response, saying that he was relieved not to be playing in the T20 cricket era, which has seen a tremendous amount of league play year-round throughout the world. According to him, he would not have put up with batters insulting bowlers in today’s games.
“If I continued to play? Good heavens, I’m not performing in this period! I wouldn’t have put up with hitters insulting bowlers the way they do these days. Still, it would have been challenging. Warm-up used to come every four years. I used to bowl between 800 and 900 overs in a season. In a season, I would have participated in about 20 leagues,” Shoaib Akhtar remarked.