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    ‘Let it blossom’: How cricket upheaval could look as India great backs radical shift – fox sports

    Indian cricket icon Ravi Shastri believes the sport’s schedule will soon imitate that of football, predicting that domestic leagues will dominate the calendar with international bilaterals filling the gaps.
    Speaking with The Grade Cricketer podcast in an extensive interview, which will be shown on Kayo Sports on Wednesday at 7pm AEDT, Shastri reiterated his desire for Test cricket to be split into a two-tier structure, allowing the sport’s powerhouses to play each other more often in the five-day format.
    However, the former Indian player and coach also called for the number of international matches to be cut down so franchise cricket could “blossom”, emulating the structure of global football.
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    According to Shastri, domestic leagues such as The Hundred and the Indian Premier League should get exclusive windows in the calendar, with international matches allocated timeslots in the gaps between T20 competitions.
    “It’s going to be more like football, like soccer,” Shastri told The Grade Cricketer.
    “You play your EPL, you play your Bundesliga, you play your Spanish league, you play Copa America, you have your Euro, but very few bilaterals. Every four years there’s a World Cup, and that’s when you play a few bilaterals between countries before you play a World Cup.
    “It will go that way (for cricket), very soon, you’ll have to start cutting down bilateral games.”
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    Nations such as South Africa and the West Indies rely heavily on their domestic T20 leagues for profits, with it becoming increasingly difficult to host Tests and bilateral white-ball cricket. The Proteas, the reigning World Test Champions, do not host any Tests this summer, while most of their red-ball series have been reduced to two matches.
    “For countries that cannot sustain (bilateral games), there’s no point,” Shastri continued.
    “I would say cut down on the (bilateral) T20s. Just have a World Cup because you have it every two years.
    “Let franchise cricket blossom, give it time. If that’s the breadwinner, if it’s giving you enough money, that can look after your domestic cricket and grassroots cricket, then by all means do it.
    “Football is a classic example of how it’s run, and I see no reason why cricket can’t do the same.”
    Meanwhile, the ICC is considering introducing a two-tier system for Test cricket when the next edition of the Future Tours Program begins in 2027, with Cricket Australia “open” to the radical change. A two-division structure would allow Australia, England and India to play each other twice every three years, with fewer matches against lower-ranked nations such as the West Indies and Bangladesh.

    Earlier this week, India completed a comfortable 2-0 series whitewash of the West Indies, comfortably defeating the Caribbean side in both matches. Back in July, Australia cruised towards a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies, rolling the hosts for 27 in the series finale.
    “You want the best playing against each other. That’s when you’ll get crowds,” Shastri said.
    “When there’s a mismatch, no one’s going to come. It’s pointless.
    “How is it a test? Why is it called Test cricket? Because it tests you, but when there’s no test, very soon people will say that’s not Test cricket.”
    Last week, veteran opener Usman Khawaja floated the possibility of moving the MCG Boxing Day Test and SCG New Year’s contest to allow Australia’s top players to be available for the Big Bash League, a radical change that could be discussed as part of the T20 competition’s possible privatisation. Due to international commitments, superstars Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins haven’t played any BBL matches in nearly a decade, while the likes of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have only been available for a handful of matches during that time.
    However, Shastri doesn’t want the Melbourne and Sydney Tests to move from their traditional timeslot.
    “Test cricket is well-served here (in Australia), that’s why you get crowds, full houses,” he said.
    “I think they should stay. (Christmas and New Year’s) is the period where Test match cricket should be played in Australia and England, because there’s a following.
    “They’re rich in history and tradition, and I think they should stick with it.”

    Instead, Shastri suggested moving the Big Bash to the edge of the Australian summer, potentially occupying a window in October-November or January-February.
    The IPL and the Hundred each occur towards the back-end of the summer, in April in India and in August in the United Kingdom respectively, with Test cricket and international matches occupying the prime timeslot.
    “The Sydney Test finishes by the seventh (of January), then you have a whole corridor where you can actually play BBL,” Shastri continued.
    “IPL is in April, that’s literally the end of the Indian season.
    “Prime time would be December-January in India – you don’t want to play (IPL) there, you want to play international cricket at that time.
    “I think a January corridor is very much open for the Big Bash, there’s no cricket being played anywhere (at that time).”

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