Blasting proposals to slash the 2019 World Cup to just 10 nations, Indian cricket batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has branded it as a 'backward step' and suggested that they should get 25 teams participating in the next tournament.
Tendulkar, who is an ambassador for the World Cup on behalf of the International Cricket Council (ICC), said that the ICC should be expanding the frontiers of the game with Test teams encouraged to pit their 'A' sides against Associate nations such as Afghanistan and Ireland.
Tendulkar said that he found out the next World Cup would only be ten teams which is disappointing because as a cricketer he wants the game to be globalised as much as possible and added that this is a backwards step according to him, Sport24 reported.
The Indian batting superstar claimed that they have got to find ways of encouraging the lesser teams, adding that why not get Australia A, England A, New Zealand A, South Africa A, New Zealand A, India A, everyone, to go and visit these countries and play them on a regular basis.
And, he said that not just 14 teams, but questioned how can they get to 25 teams participating in the next World Cup. He said that it is not just about the top six or seven sides, insisting that if they are to globalise this game they have to get more and more people excited about cricket and the fan following only follows the result.
Tendulkar argued that it was impossible for second-tier Associate nations to be consistently competitive throughout a World Cup under the current system because they are not exposed to top-level experience in the four years between tournaments.
Tendulkar said that currently, the associate nations get up after four years on the cricket world's biggest platform and they're expected to play and compete with the likes of Australia, South Africa, India, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, so many top sides, claiming that it's unfair to them.
