BCCI is against the Two-tier system, says President Anurag Thakur
The BCCI has maintained its stance against the proposed Two-tier Test system and feels that it will diminish the quality of lower-ranked teams. Pointing to the recent Sri Lanka-Australia series, BCCI President Anurag Thakur said that even lower ranked teams can punch far beyond their weight.
The newly proposed Two-tier Test system which enjoys the backing of cricketing powerhouses like, Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand, has not been accepted by Cricket’s richest body, BCCI.
Speaking about it openly, BCCI President Anurag Thakur said, “As the governing body of the game, the ICC's job is to popularize the game and increase its global reach," reported ESPNcricinfo.
Thakur added, "On the contrary, this system may be good for the top five countries, but apart from that, everyone else will suffer. On the one hand, we say we need to support teams like West Indies, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, while on the other, by bringing up something like this, we will cut their legs."
This is the third time in the last month Thakur has publicly opposed the proposed system. He said, “In a two-tier structure, India, Australia and England will probably be fine on the rights sales but what about the smaller boards? The money from the Tier 2 Tests will go to the ICC," Reported ToI.Citing the example of the recently concluded Sri Lanka- Australia Test series, Thakur stressed upon the importance of lower-ranked teams fighting the higher-ranked teams.
The BCCI  President said, "In a game of cricket, no nation should be taken lightly. The recently-concluded Australia versus Sri Lanka series is evidence of that. Sri Lanka, who are in danger of falling under the tier two category, annihilated Australia 3-0. How would that have happened had there been no series between them? So, it can't be said that only top nations will produce top cricket.”
He opined that the proposed system is fine for domestic cricket where a larger pool of teams are involved, but certainly will not work in International Cricket.
“This kind of two tier system works very well to support domestic cricket or where you have a larger pool of teams and the staging state associations are supported by their parent body and are not under pressure to generate their own revenues, or in leagues where things are considered strictly from a commercial perspective. As the global guardian of the game, we should have a larger perspective and bigger objectives," he concluded.