Wrong to blame the West Indian players for playing more white-ball cricket: Carlos Brathwaite

The West Indies cricket team is going through very tough times as the standard of the cricket played by the national side continues to degrade. Apart from occasional impressive performances, the Test and limited overs side have found trouble dealing with the top countries like Australia, England, India and South Africa. Franchise T20 cricket is one of the aspects which is always blamed for the misery of the West Indies.

Top players like Dwyane Bravo, Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard are often accused of giving priority to the franchise cricket than playing for the national side. The big money involved in such T20 leagues can be one of the main reason for this. However, West Indian all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, who is still waiting for an opportunity to feature for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League feels that it’s wrong to blame only the West Indies players.

Wrong to target only the Windies players  

Brathwaite suggested that the ICC should look into the matter. The 29-year old all-rounder added that even English players have opted to play only the limited over format while the South African player continue to go the Kolpak way. “It is something ICC needs to adjust. The West Indies players are not the only ones who have picked other leagues. We have seen some England players going for white-ball contracts and South Africans going for Kolpak. People need to accept it (the trend),” said the Barbados-born player during his chat with Hindustan Times.

Notably, Adil Rashid and Alex Hales, the two English players have opted to play only white-ball cricket while South Africa fast bowler Morne Morkel was the most recent player who signed the Kolpak deal with an English county.

Need to earn a living

The all-rounder added that while everyone wants to give importance to the international cricket, they need to earn a living. Carlos Brathwaite expressed that it is wrong to judge a player based on his choice as people are not aware of the family circumstances.

“International cricket is still the pinnacle and more often you will be judged on your exploits there. But at the end of the day, we are professionals who need to earn a living. Some cricketers will continue to play Tests, ODIs while others will play in franchise T20 Leagues. It’s very difficult to judge as you never know the family circumstances of a player,” said the all-rounder who had smoked 4 sixes in the World T20 finals to win West Indies’ second T20 trophy.

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