Legendary Pakistan all-rounder and ex-captain Shahid Afridi has spoken up about his views on Indian dominance when it comes to World Cricket. Afridi raised a finger at the recently concluded IPL media rights auctions, and how the auctions have turned the IPL into the world’s second most valuable sporting league after the NBA. The auctions fetched over ₹48000 crores in base money.
Shahid Afridi was of the opinion that the IPL and the BCCI decide everything that happens in international cricket. He said so keeping in view the recently concluded Pakistan-West Indies series, which had to be organized after the completion of the IPL as a lot of players from the West Indies national team were playing in the IPL. Afridi’s comments come at a time when the Pakistan Cricket Board is already registering a complaint against BCCI in the ICC, as the Indian cricketing board secretary Jay Shah made an announcement, increasing the IPL window to two and a half months. PCB officials believe this would hamper Pakistan’s international series badly.
Shahid Afridi said that because of the size and extent of the Indian cricketing market, it is natural that India rules World cricket. The giant population of the country treats the sport as a religion, and IPL like a festival, paving way for its dominance. Afridi further added that it would be an amazing opportunity for Pakistan players if they were able to feature in the IPL. He said that the likes of Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi would find it extremely beneficial to share the dressing room with the legends of cricket in the country with the highest number of cricketing fans in the world.
Shahid Afridi first debuted for the Pakistan national cricket team in 1996 against Kenya at the tender age of 16. Since then he has been one of the most legendary players that Pakistan has ever seen. Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, and Mohammad Rizwan are players who are considered to be the ones that brought on the Golden Age of Pakistani cricket, even getting the South Asian country crowned the world T20 champions during their reign.
