No bilateral T20 cricket? Former India head coach Ravi Shastri urges ICC to go the football way

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels cricket should take a cue from football when it comes to the shortest format of the game. Shastri has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to discontinue bilateral T20 cricket and allow the major nations to run their own T20 franchise leagues. The former all-rounder said T20 cricket should be limited to only World Cups.

While there are rarely bilateral competitions in football, major countries have their own top leagues and they only take part in the FIFA World Cup and other major tournaments at the international level. However, that is not the case in cricket, where bilateral cricket forms a major chunk of the cricketing calendar every year.

Shastri, who coached India from 2017 to 2021, believes there is too much bilateral cricket to play for all international teams and that the ICC should restrict T20s for World Cups only. Shastri said he doesn't remember a single T20 game played by India in the last 6-7 years except those which were played at the World Cups.

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"There's too much of bilateral stuff going on in T20 cricket. I've said that [before], even when I was the coach of India, I could see it happening in front of my eyes. It should go the football way, where, in T20 cricket, you just play the World Cup. Bilateral tournaments - no one remembers," Shastri told ESPNcricinfo.

"I don't remember a single game in the last six-seven years as coach of India, barring the World Cup. A team wins the World Cup, they will remember it. Unfortunately, we didn't, so I don't remember that either. Where I am coming from is: you play franchise cricket around the globe; each country is allowed to have their franchise cricket, which is their domestic cricket, and then, every two years, you come and play a World Cup," he added.

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The former India all-rounder's stint as the head coach of the Indian team had come to an end after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup last year. He has returned to commentary following his coaching stint and has been actively sharing his views on the game.

Under Shastri's leadership, India became a force to reckon with across all three formats and clinched some memorable victories at home and overseas. India also bagged a historic Test series in Australia becoming the first team to beat the hosts down-under in the 2018-19 Border Gavaskar Trophy before repeating the feat once again in 2020-21.