One of the buzzes around every World Cup event has been around the Associate nations, the talent they bring forth, the upsets they script, eventually leading up to the need for more such participants to make cricket a global sport. But former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels that it is time for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to provide these nations with more exposure to the international game and not remember them only for World Cups.
The first four editions of the World T20 – between 2007 and 2012 – saw the inclusion of only two Associate nations. In 2014, with the format expanding to 16 nations, six associate members made the tournament having qualified through the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The 2021 T20 World Cup featured five Associate nations – the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman – along with 11 full member nations.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Aakash pointed out the “fundamental problem” he has had with the ICC pertaining to the participation of these nations. “There’s always a lot of talk about including more teams in the World Cup and that this is the only way of making the sport global. But I have a fundamental problem with this… I feel that you are just doing tokenism which is like giving a lollipop to a kid when you take them out once in a while,” Chopra said.
This year, Namibia and Scotland were the two sides who made it through the Qualifiers to enter the Super 12 stage of the competition, scripting some phenomenal performances. The veteran cricketer feels that ICC should start including such promising nations into triangular or quadrangular series with full-member nations of the likes of India, England and Australia.
“If you want to do justice with the Associate nations and genuinely bring them forward then don’t remember them only World Cup to World Cup, it’s not Diwali that’ll come annually. You will have to play them consistently and help them get better,” he added.
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