Published: Aug 11, 2014, 07:42 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 14, 2014, 03:40 PM (IST)
By Sandipan Banerjee
Please note this is a humour article — work of pure fiction
As South African seamer Dale Steyn took the 24th five-for of his Test career (against Zimbabwe), the International Cricket Council (ICC) has finally come up with a decision to bar Top 10 ranked Test bowlers and batsmen from playing against the minnows in the Test format of the game. From now on, all cricketers who are in the ICC top 10 rankings, either as a batsman or as bowler, will not be allowed to play Test cricket against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe to bring about a level-playing field.
This decision of ICC has received support from various corners of the cricketing world. The request was initiated by Najmul Hasan, President of Bangladesh Cricket Board. “As part of the revamped ICC rule, we are at the bottom of the food chain. Teams like India earn truckloads of money and only a few drops of those revenue trickle down in our bucket. And after facing such suppression, how do you expect us to face the likes of Dale Steyn?” argued Hasan. He was backed by other minnows, led by Zimbabwe.
Muttiah Muralitharan lashed out at this new rule of ICC, “This is a poor decision. How on earth do you think legends are born? It is unfair to top performers and their stats as their stats will get skewed.”
Kumar Sangakkara too echoed his former teammates argument having smashed big hundreds against Bangladesh. However, Shane Warne was quick to latch on to the controversy saying, “Great move, now go ahead and remove the Test wickets from Murali’s account taken against minnows.”
This overhaul is sure to shake the cricketing world and change the way top-class players approach their game.
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at Cricket Country. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
