Holding rubbishes T20 cricket again

West Indies cricketing legend Michael Holding has drawn the ire of Indian fans after he dismissed the Indian Premier League (IPL) and stated that he only commentates on “real cricket”.

Asked about commentating in the lucrative IPL, Holding dismissed the notion and told the Indian Express that he only did commentaries on cricket. Indian fans viewed his comments as a slight on the IPL and took to social media to criticize him. This is not the first time that the fast-bowling great has dismissed the shortest format of the game. Some lauded his comments but most Indians on social media were critical of him.

Other than Holding, many former cricketers who are firm believers in Test cricket, have also debated on the T20 argument. However, with respect to the IPL, the T20 extravaganza has unearthed many Indian internationals such as Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and many other players who have been selected for the Indian Test side.

Other than the IPL, Holding also didn’t hold back on Cricket West Indies (CWI) and stated that cricketers from the West Indies preferred T20 cricket as they were being paid more to play in a short period of time. The Windies legend said that he did not blame the players, but the administrators.

He had earlier told the Indian Express that the West Indies winning a T20 tournament was not the revival of the team because the format was nothing. He blamed that format for the West Indies’ poor performances in Test cricket.

“Many West Indies players are not interested in playing for West Indies. When you are earning 600,000 or 800,000 dollars for six weeks, what are you going to do? I don’t blame the cricketers. I blame the administrators. West Indies will win T20 tournaments which aren’t cricket,” Holding said.

Holding has launched a new book, Why We Kneel, How We Rise, where he talks about the institutional and systematic discrimination against blacks over the years. He criticized racism in sports and underscored the importance of getting rid of institutionalised racism on the field.

Holding who was part of West Indies World Cup-winning squad in 1979, played 60 Tests and 102 One Day Internationals for a total of 391 wickets. (IndianExpress)