NEW DELHI: The former South African batsman has stepped aside from a flourishing international career to focus on the franchise circuit. Heinrich Klassen He believes the time has come to see T20 cricket almost as a separate sport – one in which professional leagues can flourish and help bring cricket to the global stage.The hard-hitting batsman said that cricketers are moving towards a stage where they can pursue careers like professional footballers. But he believes the purists and custodians of the game are not prepared for a future in which international cricket is reduced and leagues take center stage.
“I think cricket wants to go the way of football. But cricket purists, especially in India, England, Australia, South Africa and maybe New Zealand, will never allow that to happen. They want Test cricket to survive. BCCI And the ICC, the decision to play only T20 cricket around the world and allow international cricket for only two months of the year will never happen,” Klaasen told TOI on Thursday.“Sometimes it’s difficult to join the international team, or it doesn’t even pay off. It’s obviously a business and you want to take care of your family and your life, and you only have a certain amount of time to be in it. So, it’s definitely a path for cricketers,” he added.Klassen stressed the need to embrace T20 cricket as the format that will shape the future of the game. “It’s probably the format that will last the longest. The other formats will either slow down a bit or be limited. The game of cricket evolves and I think T20 cricket has forced other formats to play differently. If you want to evolve the game of cricket, it’s definitely to do with this format,” Klaasen said.T20 cricket has changed the dynamics of the game. Klaasen believes it will stay that way, and that coaching manuals have already been developed.“If you look at coaches around the world, they coach in the same way. They know that the players have a different mindset than six years ago. As a coach, if you want to be successful and have a long tenure, you definitely have to change your mindset. They still give their old-school advice and make sure that the cricket mindset is still there, and that the balance is not great at the moment. The coaches I’m working with,” he said. said
