Shahid Afridi Wants UAE to Host ICC T20I World Cup

Of late, the UAE has been involved in the major part of the international cricket. They hosted the prestigious Asia Cup 2018 and then gave their venues for Afghanistan Premier League 2018 as well. In addition, Pakistan is also playing its home matches in the UAE. Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi wants to make use of the UAE for ICC T20I World Cup as well.

The legendary Pakistani cricketer feels the craving for cricket has been abundant in UAE, which makes the tournament successful and also helps the growth of the game.

It will be a great initiative – Shahid Afridi

Afridi believes that ICC should consider hosting the big event like ICC T20I World Cup in the UAE. He feels the venues in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi can host the matches without any fail.

Further, Shahid Afridi also spoke on the emergence of limited overs cricket as well. He supports the franchise cricket, as it delivers the perfect entertainment for the cricket fanatics.

“It will be a great initiative to bring the Twenty20 World Cup here because expatriates from all countries are here and they can get to watch it. The venues here such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah have proved to be ideal for T20 cricket. The T20 World Cup is a big event and ICC should think about staging it here,” Shahid Afridi said to The Gulf News.

“More people are taking interest in formats like T20 and T10. They are good formats for entertainment and cricket is meant to entertain the people and today all are enjoying the short formats. UAE T20x will be another opportunity for all the players taking part in it, especially the local talent in UAE,” he added to his lines.

However, as Shahid Afridi said, it would be a great initiative if ICC considers hosting ICC T20I World Cup in the UAE. Meanwhile, his opinion of the shorter formats of the games seems to be logical as well.

On Indian Players participating in different Leagues:

Meanwhile, he also spoke on the Indian players taking part in the leagues other than Indian Premier League. He feels the participation of the experienced players will certainly help for the growth of cricket in the different country.

“When you are playing in a league, you are also supporting the cricket of that country which is hosting the league. Indian players should, therefore, play in leagues other than the Indian Premier League (IPL).

It would be interesting to see whether BCCI allows its players to play in different leagues across the world. Currently, India is busy with their hectic international schedule.