Shoaib Akhtar backs Sourav Ganguly to protect Asian nations from ICC's 4-day Tests move

Ever since the International Cricket Council (ICC) broke the news of a possibility of 4-day Tests in the future, the move has received widespread criticism from former and active cricketers alike. After players like Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Tim Paine and Steve Smith having voiced their opinions against the decision, the latest cricketing superstar to give his voice of disapproval is Pakistan legend Shoaib Akhtar. Shoaib Akhtar has disparaged the concept altogether by describing it “rubbish”. The former cricketer also pinned his hopes on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly to stop ICC from going ahead with their aforementioned plans.

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Shoaib Akhtar backs BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to stop ‘4-day Tests’ by ICC

On January 5, Shoaib Akhtar uploaded a 10-minute video on his YouTube channel in which the former speedster gave his reasons on why Test cricket should remain a five-day affair. In his video, he described BCCI President Sourav Ganguly as an 'intelligent' man, who will never let this happen. Akhtar claimed that no one would be interested in seeing a four-day Test match and ICC cannot implement their decision without the approval of BCCI.

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Apart from pinning his hopes on BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly, Shoaib Akhtar also urged people from Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka to voice their opinions against the four-day Test. He said that legendary cricketers from his nation should also start voicing their opinions as he called it a 'conspiracy by the ICC against Asian nations'.

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Earlier, Indian captain Virat Kohli was asked to give his take on ICC’s idea of ‘four-day’ Test matches. On the eve of India’s opening T20I clash against Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli told reporters that Test cricket should not be altered. Kohli added that such a move will be unfair to the “purest format of the game”.

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