Published 12:29 IST, December 4th 2019
IPL 2020: Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake names the two teams he would like to play for
Yohan Blake said that he is lured by the glamour of IPL and he would love to feature in franchise cricket. He named KKR and RCB as his favourite teams.
- SportFit
- 3 min read
Jamaica’s Yohan Blake has always been open to pursuing other sports post his retirement from the world of athletics. The sprinter, who was in India to promote Road Safety World Series (a T20 league for the retired international stars), told reporters that he is interested in pursuing cricket.
Yohan Blake interested in playing IPL
The Olympic sprinter while exclusively talking to The Republic said that that if not a sprinter, he would be a cricket all-rounder. He also said that he would love to play for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL), probably due to his camaraderie with Chris Gayle, who is also from Jamaica.
IPL 2020: Yohan Blake eyes Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) or Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
The RCB side led by Virat Kohli has not won even a single title in 12 seasons. In fact, their best performance across 12 seasons is their runners-up finish in 2016. In the last edition also, the Bangalore-based franchise came up with a miserable performance and finished at the bottom.
RCB have released quite a few players before the IPL Auction 2020, which is set to take place on December 19. They will look to strengthen their team and cover all the required bases at the upcoming auction. It may be indicative of RCB's mindset under new coach Mike Hesson that they might be looking for at least a minor overhaul while on the lookout for their maiden IPL title.
Even before stating his desire to play in IPL, Blake reportedly rejected an offer from Caribbean Premier League franchise Jamaica Tallawahs who approached him to display his talent. According to a report, Blakes said that he did get an offer from the Tallawahs this year, but he could not take it up because he was focusing on training for the World Championships [Doha], the Olympics coming up and World Championships again [March 2020 in Nanjing, China].
Usain Bolt fulfilled his desire of becoming a footballer after retirement from the sport as he trained alongside Borussia Dortmund and then went on to play for Australian club Central Coast Mariners. Blake also looks to take the same path as that of the legendary sprinter, but time will only tell if he succeeds with the bat in hand.
Updated 18:28 IST, December 4th 2019
