Former England captain Kevin Pietersen lauded the SA20 league of South Africa for bringing in innovative changes in T20 cricket and even said that the IPL can adopt a few of the rules to enhance their entertainment level going forward.
In the recently launched SA20, captains are allowed to nominate 13 players to take the field at the toss and select their final XI afterwards. Also bonus points are on offer for teams for achieving a run rate of 1.25 times that of the opposition.
“I don’t mind the new rules. I think the new rules are very, very good. The toss doesn’t play too much of a role. I like the innovation that SA 20 has brought to the game. I think that’s brilliant. Offering bonus points is also a great idea. You can see bonus point has played a role here. I mean, you want to change the rules to make it more entertaining for everybody.
Then why not keep progressing. Keep changing the game. Keep making it more entertaining. And also keep the players on their toes. I think the IPL can also implement this,” Kevin Pietersen said in an interaction arranged by Sports18 and Jio Cinema.
Asked if the sport would be better off without the ODI format, especially bilateral rubbers without context, Pietersen said it is difficult to arrive at a definitive conclusion at the moment. He also talked about his regret of not winning the ODI World Cup in his career.
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“We can’t say that cricket would be better off without ODIs, because we’re not there yet. But we may see it in the future though the World Cup is such a valuable item, right? “In my career, I was able to win everything, except for the 50-over World Cup. We won the Ashes, we beat India In India, and we won the T20 World Cup. Huge.. I mean these are big things that you can achieve in your career. And I never got the 50-over World Cup. So it’s one of those regrets,” he said.
He further advised India to follow the ultra-aggressive batting model employed by the England team, especially in ODIs.
“It’s the mindset. I think they’ve got a coach that is making sure that they’re not scared of failing. They’re not worried about failure. If you get out there, probably, they don’t care about getting out, they just go out and play without fear of failure.
I think India should follow it. I think India bats too slowly, despite having the players. They have the players, but still. They must go out there and emulate what England is doing,” he said.
He opined on T20 cricket’s popularity and where Test cricket stands in front of it.
He said: “It’s here to stay, there’s too much money in T20s. Now 50-over cricket seems like a very, very long day of cricket. I don’t think you get that entertainment in the 50 over game as much as you get in T20s. Something will need to be looked at. I also fear for Test cricket. And I’ve said that for a very long time that I worry about Test cricket and worry that instant gratification that all of us want could harm Test cricket.”
So that instant gratification is what is actually, I think, hurting the longer form of the games. I think it’s hurting 50-over cricket in particular. And then I think that the longest form of the game. That’s where my worry is, because I love Test cricket. I have played over 100 Test matches. And I think that really teaches you who you are as a person,” Pietersen concluded.
(PTI inputs)
