Virender Sehwag backs the inclusion of T10 cricket in Olympics

Former Indian swashbuckling batsman Virender Sehwag on Thursday backed the inclusion of T10 cricket in the Olympic Games. Sehwag is currently prepping to captain the Maratha Arabians franchise in the upcoming T10 Cricket League to be played from December 14-17 in the United Arab Emirates. He will be leading the squad which features the likes of former Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara and Pakistan players Mohammed Amir and Kamran Akmal.

During the team’s jersey launch earlier this morning, the 39-year-old supported the T10 format as he felt more nations would be able to produce match-winning players. He believes the T10 format will be ideal to be drafted into the quadrennial sports extravaganza.

As per the quotes on Times of India, Sehwag opined, “I think (if) we are talking about (the fact) that cricket should be a part of the Olympics, I think T10 is the right format. Because it gets over in 90 minutes and it’s like a football match and a result will come. So I think, this is the right format, if ICC is thinking about talking to the (International) Olympic Association (Committee) that cricket should be part of that (the Olympics).”

Limited Indian presence in T10 cricket league

The T10 Cricket league is being played under the aegis of the Emirates Cricket Board and is approved by the International Cricket Council. The league was the brain child of businessman Saijul Ul Malik, chairman of the T10 Cricket League.

Sehwag is the only Indian cricketer in the tournament. It is a hurdle that the stake holders of the event grappled with over the past few months. The lethal right-hander will begin his fitness regime for the upcoming T10 league after the culmination of India’s final Test against Sri Lanka at Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi.