Not sure cricket can continue to have 3-4 formats in future: Ian Chappell

Former Australia skipper Ian Chappell believes that it will be difficult to have three formats of cricket (four if you count the Hundred) running simultaneously in the near future. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in suspension of all cricket tournaments for the time being and there is no clarity on when the sporting calendar will resume. Chappell said that he does not see the point of a format like The Hundred (where each innings comprises 100 balls) and added that the T20 format has been quite successful as it was able to bring in a lot of young fans to the game.

"I think T20 has been quite effective in attracting young people to the game. I have said all along that cricket's job is to make sure that those young fans become cricket fans rather than T20 fans. I think that is important. I am not sure that the game can continue to have three formats or four if you count the Hundred.

"I don't see the logic of going from 120 balls to 100 balls. But I would hate to see the 50 overs game go as I think it is a very good time and it is still a game of cricket.I enjoyed the 50-over game. If I was not batting in the top 3, I do not think I would have enjoyed t20 too much," Chappell said during his interaction with Rajdeep Sardesai for 'Sony Ten Pit Stop'.

Chappell also hailed legendary bowler Erapalli Prasanna as the best spinner that he has played against and spoke about the 1967-68 Test series where Prasanna took 25 wickets against a strong Aussie batting line-up.

"Prasanna was the best opposition spinner I played against. If you had a good innings against him, your brain will be worn out. His performance in Australia was phenomenal. He was coming on with Australia none for 100 and he ended up taking 25 wickets in the series. Great respect for him and he combined his engineering background with spin bowling. It was a pleasure to talk to him about spin bowling and his insights are quite unique," he said.