Restructuring of cricket's global calendar and policies long overdue, insists Uday Shankar

Although we have three formats in cricket now, not all of them are money-making and sustainable on their own. In fact, apart from T20 leagues and few iconic series, no other bilateral series or Test matches have been able to generate enough revenue to support the boards. Interestingly, the ICC started the Test Championship based on the premise that such a tournament would entice more fans to watch the longest format of the game. 

However, things haven’t gone exactly according to the plan due to the pandemic, but Uday Shankar, who stepped down as chairman at Star & Disney India, and as President at Walt Disney APAC on Thursday, insisted that cricket's global administration needs a fresh approach going forward.

"I think restructuring of cricket's global calendar and policies is long overdue and it needs to be done at the earliest. The current global model of the game is fast becoming unsustainable and to not take that into account by cricket authorities would be short-sightedness," Shankar told TOI.

"Today, a lot of cricket properties are loss-making propositions. Much of the cricket outside of IPL and ICC World Cups do not have support."

Shankar stated that the game's administration that must align its goals with that of fans and must plan accordingly. He added that all the fight amongst the three formats of cricket for relevance must come to an end. 

"Those who have the responsibility to take care of cricket need to take note of it. The game has a lot of smart minds, but you can't consider the rear-view mirror and drive. You've got to look ahead, see the signposts and see for yourself how you need to go forward," he said.

"Cricket needs clarity. It has three formats and all three are currently battling each other for greater relevance. In that, the game finds itself caught in a bizarre dichotomy that has come to exist and it needs to be resolved".