Kevin Pietersen wants cricket to be included in the Olympics
England batsman Kevin Pietersen said that T20 cricket should be included in the Olympic Games. Speaking during the talk show Sports Industry Breakfast, the maverick cricketer said that winning an Olympic Gold medal in the sport would be the highest accomplishment as far as he was concerned.
During the show, he also admitted that it was right on the part of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to not pick him in the recent Ashes squad, after England went on to win the series against Australia 3 -2.
Cricket, along with 32 other sports, have been shortlisted by the International Olympic Association (IOA) to be included in the 2024 edition. A decision on which all sports make the final cut will be made in 2017, but an application to this effect have to be submitted by next year.
The cricketing world is understood to be divided over the issue however with the ECB and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) against the inclusion of the sport while the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) has openly commented that that cricket should be included in the Olympics.
ICC chief executive David Richardson had said in July that he would be holding further discussions with all parties concerned before taking a final call on the issue, but Pietersen is in support of the motion as he once again shared a different opinion to the one taken by the ECB.
“Cricket in the Olympics would be an amazing thing. Yes, some of us have played in a wonderful era of cricket for England. We have beaten Australia in Australia, we have beaten them here, India in India, we won that World Cup in Barbados (2010 T20 World Cup) beating Australia, (but) a Gold medal in the Olympics would be unreal,” Pietersen said.
Pietersen is considered one of the most captivating cricketers to pull on an England shirt. His flamboyant strokeplay was at the heart of many of England's finest performances for a decade. He scored 8,181 Test runs at an average of 47.28 in 104 Tests and was rivaled by very few in England's history. His record in limited-overs cricket is also outstanding.
He has not been picked for the national team since the disastrous Ashes 2013 tour Down Under but has kept himself busy with T20 cricket. He will turn out for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League in December, has signed up for Sunfoil Dolphins in the RamSlam Pro 20 series and is also expected to be play in the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He has also made himself available for the debut season of the Pakistan Super League.
On suggestions that an overdose of T20 cricket is leading to the demise of Test cricket, Pietersen said that playing the shortest format of the game is the only realistic possibility by which cricket will make an appearance at the Olympics.
Watch the full video here as uploaded by Associate Press sports journalist Rob Harris on his official Facebook page.
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Posted by Rob Harris on Thursday, 24 September 2015