Playing For Country Should Come First, Disappointing To See Young Cricketers Leave Test Cricket For IPL - Brian Lara

Former West Indies player Brian Lara expressed his disappointment over international cricketers opting to play for T20 domestic cricket instead of playing Test matches for their country.

South Africa is currently playing Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series, which is locked at 1-1 with the series decider scheduled to play on Wednesday in Centurion. After the completion of the ODI series, both teams will play a couple of Test matches, which is part of the World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle.

South Africa’s regular Test players like Kagiso Rabada (PBKS), Marco Jansen (SRH), Anrich Nortje (DC), Lungi Ngidi (DC), Aiden Markram (SRH) and Rassie van der Dussen (RR) have opted to skip the Test series in order to be available for their respective IPL franchise teams.

Brian Lara asks ICC to create a rule for cricketers to play a certain number of international matches

Lara, who played 131 Test matches for West Indies in his storied red-ball career, said players should prioritise playing for their nation first and asked the ICC to prepare strict rules regarding the issue.

“Playing for the country should come first. Because I played for the West Indies, other opportunities opened up for me. It’s disappointing to see young cricketers leaving Test cricket. The ICC should come up with a rule stating a cricketer must play a certain number of games for his country before he can play in the Twenty20 leagues. Something needs to be done,” Lara told Sportstar.

Shane Warne’s influence was positive wherever he went: Brian Lara

Lara also recalled his enthralling battle with late Australian spinner Shane Warne, who died of a heart attack on March 4 in Thailand at the age of 52. Lara also talked about Warne’s influence on the game not only as a player but also in regards to his commentary career.

“We’ve been involved in some fascinating duels. But after the day’s play, he would leave everything behind and have a drink with you. As a commentator, he articulated the right issues. His influence was positive wherever he went,” the former West Indies player said.

Lara was appointed batting coach and strategic advisor of IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad for the upcoming season.

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