Would not want any change to the longest format, shares Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene is the latest player to join the long list of greats of the game who have played down the proposal of four-day Test matches as he shared he doesn’t want any changes to the format. Tendulkar, Ponting, Kohli and Lyon are amongst others who have rejected the proposal.
The storm raged by the four-day Test proposal seems to be growing stronger as yet another great of the game, Mahela Jayawardene, stepped up his voice of discontent over it. While Jayawardene joined a long list of players opposing it, ICC’s cricket committee, of which Jayawardene is a member, is set to meet in order to discuss the matter in March.
The great Sri Lanka batter shared that while the committee is yet to discuss, it is his personal opinion that the longest format of the game shouldn’t be tinkered with.
“We will discuss it in the meeting (in March), and I don’t know what will happen after that but my personal opinion is that it should remain five days. I would not want any change,” the former Sri Lanka captain told Sportstar.
Previously Sachin Tendulkar opposes the move pointing out that spinners come into play on the fifth day while Ricky Ponting asked for a solid reason before taking such a drastic step. India skipper Virat Kohli opined that shortening the format would accelerate its downfall as Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon deemed it a “ridiculous” move.
Meanwhile, Mark Taylor, Michael Vaughan and Shane Warne are among former players who have supported the shake-up. The ICC approved a trial of the concept in 2017, with South Africa, Zimbabwe, England and Ireland taking part in four-day games since then.
