'India me flop movies se bhi kisi ko nuksaan nahi hota': Ex-Pakistan captain makes massive remark on India's T20I setup
The former Pakistan skipper made a big remark as he talked about India's cricketing setup, especially in the T20Is.
Team India recently secured a 2-1 series win over South Africa in the three-match T20I series, that marked the side's final bilateral appearance before the T20 World Cup – scheduled to start on October 22. Over the past year, the Indian team management inclined at making a number of experimentations to their T20I squad, especially in the bowling roles. As a result, India had a host of options when it came to deciding on the 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup.
With a sharp increase in the number of players, the BCCI also inclined towards playing separate squads for different formats, sometimes at the same time. Last year, India's Test team and limited-overs side played simultaneously in England and Sri Lanka respectively; earlier this year, a Hardik Pandya-led Indian team took on Ireland in a two-match T20I series while the Test squad, led by Rohit Sharma (and later Jasprit Bumrah), prepared for the rescheduled fifth Test against England in Edgbaston.
During a YouTube session, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt was asked by a fan if having so many players at disposal adds to confusion and dilemma among the selectors and team management. Butt, however, defended the Indian think-tank.
“Apparently, there are more benefits to it. India is one of the biggest economies, it's one of the biggest markets. Aapke consumers sabse zyada hote hain toh anything sells. Sab cheezein theek-thaak bik jaati hai. Aap dekhe na, flop movies me bhi kisi ko nuksaan nahi hota India me, kyunki itni dafa dekhe jaate hain, itne numbers hain logon ke (If you have more consumers, anything sells. Even flop movies in India work well because there are so many people),” Butt began.
“Practically speaking, it's an asset. Agar aapko confusion ho rahi hai selection me, it's a good headache. Aapki 3 teams hain, ek Test khel rahi hoti hai, ek T20 ya ODI khel rahi hoti hai aur ‘A’ team bhi khel rahi hoti hai. Ye ek blessing hai. (If you are having confusion in your selection, it's a good headache. You have 3 teams, one is playing Test, other ODIs/T20Is, and then you have the ‘A’ team playing as well. This is a blessing)," said Butt.
The former Pakistan captain also stated that the Ramiz Raja-led PCB can also do something similar, and expressed his disappointment that no steps have been taken on the same.
“Ye hamaare numbers me bhi ho sakta hai. Par hamaare 2 saal ho gaye hain, naa hamne A ka koi tour karaaya hai naa U19 ka (This can happen with our numbers as well. But it has been 2 years, neither did we have an ‘A’ tour or an U19 tour),” Butt said.