“Patriotism can wait”: Cricketers prefer T20 contracts over National duty says survey

Cricketers all over the world are show their interests in domestic T20 contracts instead of representing their nation. A recent study by the Federation of International Cricketers Association , where they surveyed 400 men’s players spread across 11 countries shows that 49% of the players are likely to reject national comittments so that they can be a part of the bigger domestic T20 leagues.

Also, none of the players who were a part of the survey, are from India. Even test cricket’s popularity dipped from The above numbers are sure to raise the eyebrows of the Cricket Boards who now run the risk of losing out on the players for international matches, another spiralling effect of the shortest format of the game getting popularity and priority.

Players choose T20 leagues over national duties

Ironically, all these T20 domestic leagues have been initiated by the Cricket Boards’ of the respective countries, who , obviously, failed to foresee such a stalemate. Digging deeper , a lot of factors could contribute to such a choice for the players. For one, playing 3 formats is increasingly demanding for the players , both physically and mentally and quite a few of them have already denounced specific formats.

Like Ben Stokes and Quinton de Kock who cease to be a part of the Test team for their respective countries. Secondly, and probably most importantly, T20 leagues are supposedly the ” money spinning” version of the game.

Taking a que from the IPL, most countries now have their own domestic T20 leagues, which has created a platform for local talents to play alongwith the world-class ones. Such a stage is never devoid of sponsors which makes it economically attractive option, unlike the longer formats.

Even though the International Cricket Council has been busy ensuring that the longer formats stay in relevance, time , however, seems to indicate the opposite.