Sanjay Manjrekar bats for Day-Night Tests for India

Manjrekar believes the balance between the players and the BCCI should be maintained.

BCCI  | AFP

Former Indian cricketer and cricket commentator, Sanjay Manjrekar, has opined on Monday (October 1) that India should now start playing Day-Night Tests to attract fans and regain excitement for the longest format of the game –Test cricket.

He also calls for the more coordination between Indian Team and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), as the power of the players and administrators has been grown over the past one year.

This year, the Indian Team Management managed gained considerable hike in their salaries and even picked the coach of their choices, which left some office-bearers and former cricketers unhappy and Manjrekar believes the balance needs to be maintained between the players and management.

While speaking at the Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture in Mumbai, Manjrekar said, “I believe that people at the top should get their (players) views and not get dictated by those.... There were times when India players were at the mercy of the BCCI and the relationship between players and the board was uneasy for a long time. Thank God all that is in the past, but we must be careful to not go to the other extreme and try and keep players happy come what may.”

He also lamented the modern days players picking T20 over the longer formats. He added, “Nowadays, it’s like playing the IPL at all cost and player injuries surface only before and after the IPL. IPL offers you fame as well as money. Now, who will say no to this? No wonder that many are choosing T20 leagues over Test matches. More and more players are training themselves to be good white ball players. Also Test cricket is just too damn hard, so it’s no wonder that many are choosing T20 leagues.”

Manjrekar signed off by saying, “Today’s Test cricket is played in front of empty stands and IPL in front of a frenzied 50,000-plus and millions watching on television. Why aren’t we playing more day-night Test matches when it’s a no brainer that it would attract more viewership? An offer was recently rejected by India because the players are wary of it, wary of the pink ball, the dew factor etc. I always believe that conditions are never unfair if it’s the same for both sides.”

(Inputs: Hindustan Times)

 
 

By Rashmi Nanda - 02 Oct, 2018

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