Steve Smith keen to play IPL 2020: The Australian batsman has prioritized the world event but is open to play the cash-rich league as well.
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Australia batsman Steve Smith hopes for the continuation of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship despite it being hit hard due to the novel COVID-19 pandemic. While limited-overs fixtures can still be adjusted, five-day matches of a world tournament will find it hard to find a space in the cricketing calendar in the future.
“It’d be ideal if we can keep that going. It’s the first one we’ve had and we’re all working towards hopefully playing at Lord’s in mid-June [2021], we were all working towards that.
“So, it’d be good if we could carry on with that, but I don’t know, everything is sort of up in the air at the moment with everything going on around the world. So we’ll wait and see where everything lands,” Smith said after returning to training with the New South Wales squad on Monday.
Apart from the Test Championship, another tournament which is expected to get duly affected is this year’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia. If Cricket Australia’s leaked letter to the ICC is to be believed, CA aspires to host the world event next year.
While the final verdict will be passed by the ICC on June 10, Smith appears to be unperturbed with the developments saying that the same is a “little bit” irrelevant amidst a global crisis.
“I personally haven’t really thought about it, I think it’d just be going off the advice of the professionals and the governments and essentially doing what we’re told.
“If that happens then great, if not then there’s just so much going on in the world right now that cricket kind of seems a little bit irrelevant. So we’ll get back when we’re told to and until then it is sit tight, get fit and strong and freshen up mentally,” Smith said.
Steve Smith promotes fair contest between bat and ball
Smith, 30, has become the latest cricketer to be vocal about ICC banning the use of saliva to shine a cricket ball. Laying emphasis on a fair contest between the bat and ball, Smith expects ICC to “figure out” ways to ensure neither of the two departments suffer.
“I’ve always been one to want a fair contest between bat and ball, so if that’s taken away, even as a batter I don’t think that’s great. Whether they can find other ways with certain things, it’ll be hard.
“I actually spit on my hands most balls and that’s how I get grip and stuff. So that might take some adjusting to certain things like that, but that’s something for the ICC to figure out what they want to do going forward and different regulations,” Smith added.
Apart from Smith, Australia all-rounder Marnus Labuschagne, spearhead Mitchell Starc, and Indian spinners in Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran Ashwin have also shared their views on saliva ban.
There is no hiding to the murmurs around BCCI conducting IPL 2020 if the T20 World Cup gets postponed. With that window in the calendar being vacant, it might be the best time to conduct the biggest T20 league.
Smith, who has been named to lead Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, prioritized the World Cup but also expressed keenness in playing IPL 2020 if the world event gets delayed.
“I think when you’re playing for your country at a World Cup, that’s the pinnacle for one-day or T20 cricket, so of course I’d prefer to play in that. But if that doesn’t happen and the IPL’s there, and they postpone it, then so be it. IPL’s also a terrific tournament as a domestic tournament,” Smith mentioned.
