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'Fulfilling the Olympic dream': Ian Chappell says T20 format enough to take cricket into Olympics

WION Web Team
New Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Aug 01, 2021, 04:05 PM IST
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Ian Chappell Photograph:(AFP)

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The inclusion of cricket into the Olympics would be a game-changer considering the expansion of the game globally; it will also take the sport to a different level. 

Former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has said that the T20 format was enough to take the sport into the Olympics amid ongoing discussion over the re-inclusion of cricket into the Games. The inclusion of cricket to the Olympics would be a game-changer considering the expected expansion of the game globally; it will also take the sport to a different level. 

Addressing the same, Chappel said, "Apart from reducing the number of balls to obtain a terrestrial television deal, the reasoning behind the Hundred could well be that it improves the chances of cricket fulfilling the Olympic dream." 

"This is often cited as a way to spread the game's popularity to a wider audience. Surely the T20 format could achieve that same outcome without yet another reduction," Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo. 

Cricket is deemed by the fans as the world's second most popular behind football and it enjoys a massive following in some of the South Asian countries. 

The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have courted for cricket's inclusion in the past. However, there has been renewed efforts in recent years. 

Chappell also wrote, "Cricket is a team game ideally played by 11 members a side. Performance satisfaction is a big reason why youngsters fall in love with the game. Administrators would do well to remember that before they rush into devising shorter forms of the game. The more the length of an innings is reduced, the greater chance that there will be players "just making up the numbers. Even those players crave occasional performance satisfaction."

"Throughout my playing career I believed there were two possible solutions to a problem: a simple one and a complicated one. I also believed that to the benefit of Australia, England would regularly choose the complicated solution. They've done it again," he added.

"To overcome the perceived problem of public not fully conversant with cricket, they've concocted another form of the game - The Hundred. That's right, they've reduced by a mere 20 balls a format that was extremely popular with players and the public," he added.

(with inputs from agencies)