Former India cricketer turned renowned commentator Aakash Chopra has slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for doing ‘tokenism’ with Associate Members. He claimed that nations like Namibia, Scotland and Oman, among others in the World Cups is like giving a “lollipop to a kid” as well.
While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra said if the ICC wants cricket to become a global sport, then they will have to create more opportunities for the Associate nations so that they can compete with full members and improve as well.
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He said: “There’s always a lot of clamor about including more teams in the World Cup and that this is the only way of making the sport global. But I have a fundamental problem with this… I feel that you are just doing tokenism which is like giving a lollipop to a kid when you take them out once in a while. If you want to do justice with the Associate nations and genuinely bring them forward then don’t remember them only World Cup to World Cup, it’s not Diwali that’ll come annually. You will have to play them consistently and help them get better.”
Aakash Chopra gave the example of England who hadn’t played against Bangladesh in the T20I format before Saturday’s T20 World Cup match. He also slammed India for not playing against the teams like Afghanistan more often.
Aakash Chopra further added: “I’ll tell you something. The match between England and Bangladesh yesterday was the first T20 match between these two teams and that’s when Bangladesh is not even an Associate nation. England doesn’t want to play with Bangladesh and you are talking about Namibia, Ireland, Oman and Scotland. We Indians, how many times have we hosted Afghanistan except for a Test match? … So when nobody plays with these teams for four years and they come and get beaten badly here, we say ‘It’s a good thing they have got experience, they’ll get better now’. They’ll get better only if you give them another opportunity to play.”
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However, the T20 World Cup 2021 has seen five Associate nations – Namibia, Scotland, Oman, Papua New Guinea and the Netherlands. Out of them, Namibia and Scotland have reached the Super 12 stage as well. Aakash Chopra also said that more triangular or quadrangular series will help them to improve.
“My advice is that you should keep aside the bilateral series. Make it a triangular or quadrangular series always and include one Associate nation in it and take it alongside you. If you can’t do that between two World Cups then inclusivity is just a lollipop to suck,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
