Faf du Plessis not impressed by BCCI's Super Series proposal
South Africa captain Faf du Plessis condemned the move of the big three model and said that the game needs more nations in order to globalize the sport. Reacting to BCCI’s proposal of organizing a Super Series involving India, Australia, England and a fourth team from 2021, du Plessis said it would be better if more teams get involved.
Following South Africa’s first victory in the ICC World Test Championship against England, du Plessis was asked to give his opinion on the proposal of a Super Series from 2021. He spoke on the imbalance of fixtures for the other teams and how involving more teams could benefit the game in the long run. He said,
The last year or so you can see what’s going on in terms of the big three countries. There’s a lot of movement going towards that, a lot more matches being played against the top three, or big three. It’s probably better if you include more teams, the better to grow the game as much as you can. There’s a lot of smaller nations not playing a lot of Test cricket, they’re actually playing less.
Despite bagging their Test status one a half years ago, teams like Afghanistan and Ireland are struggling to get matches. Moreover, the ICC Test championship involving the top 9 teams has further restricted their smooth evolution in Test cricket.
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Meanwhile, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly had proposed the idea of organizing a Super Series involving 4 nations last week and said that they were in discussion with the ECB and CA for the same. He had remarked,
Australia, England, India, and another top team will feature in the Super Series, which begins in 2021, and the first edition of the tournament will be played in India.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is planning to add an extra 50 overs world event to the Future Tours Programme and the move by the Big 3 is believed to counter ICC's plans. Meanwhile, the ECB in a statement said that they were open to discuss the aforementioned aspect.
We meet regularly with other leaders from the major cricketing nations to share learnings and discuss topics that impact our sport. A four-nation tournament was raised at a meeting with the BCCI in December and we are open to discussions with other ICC members to see if this concept can develop.
Thus, at this juncture, all arrangements and possible developments seem to be in its formative stages, although it would certainly be interesting to see if the Super Series comes to fruition. And, if it does, which teams are involved in the tournament.