Abid Ali highlights importance of domestic cricket as he reveals his preferred format between Tests and T20s

Pakistan Cricketer Abid Ali talked about the importance of playing 4-day cricket over T20 cricket. He stated that T20 performances come and go, but the importance of playing 4-day domestic cricket can never be undervalued.

The growing advent of T20 cricket has put the future of the other formats in jeopardy. Especially in Pakistan, a lot of cricketers prefer the shortest format of the game rather than playing the Test or FC cricket in the domestic circuit.

Even some big names in the Pakistan Cricket are prioritizing T20s over the longest format of the game. This has resulted in the National Cricket Team not performing up to the mark at the International stage in the longest format of the game.

Pakistan is a force to reckon with in T20Is but has been struggling big time in the Tests and the ODIs. While most of the players prefer a shorter format, there are still some players who are solely focused on red-ball cricket and are continuously grinding hard in domestic cricket.

Abid Ali admitted that T20 cricket is growing, but the performance of the player is depicted by the red ball, which according to him teaches players a lot and makes them a good player. Speaking in a video posted on Twitter, he explained:

"PSL, which is a Pakistani brand. The way the Pakistan Cricket Board has shown it, like there is IPL all over the world it is being shown in that format. So, this is a short format, in which sometimes there is performance and sometimes there is not. But in my opinion, in domestic cricket, the performance that is given in that format, 3-4 things teach you a lot of importance.

"First of all, you are mentally strong, then you get cricket awareness, your physical fitness is seen, because in 4-day cricket, you're mentally, physically, your cricket awareness, everything is checked. This is the name of Test Cricket, where you have a test in 4-day cricket or 1-day cricket. You have a test in 4 days. So, everything makes you a good player."

Domestic cricket is our base - Abid Ali

Abid Ali further cited examples of greats of Pakistan in Inzamam-ul-Haq, Misbah-Ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, and others who played domestic cricket on priority. He highlighted that domestic cricket makes the base of the player and the more they play it more confidence will be gained. He added:

"We have big examples in front of us, I am myself individually, then there is Azhar Ali, then there is Asad Shafiq, then there is Fawad Alam, then there is Misbah Bhai, then there is Younis Khan Sahib, then there is Inzy Bhai, then there is Yusuf Bhai. All of them came to domestic cricket, then they preferred international cricket.

"So, whenever we used to come, we used to give importance to domestic cricket. So, in my opinion, domestic cricket is our base. In that, you have to strengthen your base. Based on that, you should select, so that we get a lot of confidence from it. The more you grind, the more you better player you become," he concluded.