Srinagar, May 18: Former Pakistan skipper Inzamam ul Haq has lashed out at Pakistan Cricket Board for replacing one Test match with two T20 Internationals during its tour of West Indies .
Inzamam, who has scored 8829 runs in 120 Tests, said Test cricket should not be sacrificed to elevate T20 cricket.
While speaking during a video posted on his YouTube channel, the Pakistani legend admitted the real beauty of the sport lies in Tests despite T20s providing entertainment.
“The focus, currently, is mainly on T20 cricket. It goes for all the teams and players. Yes, I understand that T20 cricket is entertaining and people enjoy watching the format but the real beauty lies in test matches wherein you find out the quality of a batsman. So, that should be surely be maintained,” said Inzamam.
Inzamam also said that it is not necessary to bring up the status of a format at the expense of another and that it can be done simultaneously.
“T20 cricket entertains people and it should definitely be played but one thing should not be pushed down to bring the other up. Test cricket (and its stature) should remain as it is and you can always bring the standards of T20 cricket up simultaneously,” he said.
He said replacing Test with T20 will ne unfair to both sport and players .
“But don’t end Test cricket and replace it with T20 cricket. If this happens, it will be unfair to both the sport and the players because if the boards devote more focus to T20 cricket over Tests, then the players will also follow the same path. Moreover, even the youngsters and the next crop of cricketers will also start focusing more on T20 cricket from the start,” he said.
“If T20 cricket is more entertaining and gets you more money, sure, do it. But not at the cost of Test cricket. It shouldn’t be the case that you are reducing a three-match series to two Tests and increasing a three-match T20I series to five. The board shouldn’t send out a message that players should play on T20 cricket and that T20 is of prime importance to us,” opined Inzamam.