MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid as important as 'larger than life' Virat Kohli, claims David Richardson
ICC chief executive, David Richardson has stated that players like MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid are equally important as 'larger than life' players like Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes in order to maintain a perfect balance in cricket. He also questioned coaches for siding with the players and not the game.
Cricket has seen all sorts of players over the years. From the flamboyant to the shy. From the uber-aggressive to the well-mannered ones. For every Sourav Ganguly out there, a Sachin Tendulkar always maintained the balance. Richardson has reiterated the need to have the balance in a sport that is very competitive especially in the longest format of the game. He explained that cricketers with a larger than life character on the field are important to the game as well because their aggression helps them play better. However, at the same time, he also expressed how calm players are there to keep these players under check for on-field behaviour.
“On the field cricket needs its larger than life characters. Its Colin Milburns, Freddie Flintoffs, Shane Warnes, Virat Kohlis, Ben Stokes but we equally need its Frank Worrells, MS Dhonis, Rahul Dravids, Colin Cowdreys to make sure that we all stay in the good side of that line. Personal Abuse, fielders giving send-offs to dismissed batsmen, unnecessary physical contact, players threatening not to play in protest of umpires decisions and ball tampering isn't the version of the sport that we want to project to the world,” Richardson stated in his lecture.
The chief executive officer also mentioned about the steps that ICC is planning to take against any kind of personal abuse on the field which might include a six Test match and or twelve limited-overs match suspension. The ICC shall focus more on educating the players on what it means to play cricket within the spirit of the game. Richardson also spoke about how a home team should maintain the principles of respect for the opposition during Bilateral series and treat them as honoured guests by providing them with training facilities and other logistical needs exactly as the home team.
Richardson also touched on the fact that national team coaches usualally supporting the unacceptable behaviour of the players. He also gave the example of South African all-rounder, Mike Proctor, who during his time as the national coach, made sure that the umpires’ decisions had unqualified acceptance.
“Too many coaches or team managers of recent times are too quick to side with their players, blame the umpires for biased decisions against their team, storming off to match referee’s room to complain. Winning must obviously be the aim of a game, but not at all costs, not when it costs the integrity of the game,” Richardson added.
Richardson also found it hard to believe that players did not know about the things that would be termed as ball tampering, to which he commented that, “The laws are simple and straightforward, do not change the condition of the ball using any artificial substance and if you're caught, dont complain. Saying others do it is not a defence, you are cheating.”
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