Ian Botham disappointed with Indian cricket’s current state

Ian Botham revealed that the contests involving India used to be interesting but they are failing to maintain that in current times.

England legend and former all-rounder Sir Ian Botham expressed his disappointment over Indian cricket‘s present state. Recently, during an event, Botham revealed that the contests involving India used to be interesting but they are failing to maintain that in current times. India is going through an array of Twenty20 (T20) series with Asia Cup 2016, ICC World T20 2016 and now Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 taking place in the Indian subcontinent and Botham, in presence of Australia great Steve Waugh, said there is serious necessity of quality cricket from India. READ: IPL 2016: Steve Waugh feels T20 leagues have made ‘loyalty to money’ focus

As quoted by The Times of India, Botham said, “I am disappointed with Indian cricket right now. Cricket is more than just a 20-over game, they need to understand that. England’s contests with India always used to excite me but right now, I don’t know what to say. Test cricket is the real thing but there is shelf life for every format. I feel Twenty20 should be bottom of the shelf.”

He also praised England team saying, “The England team is in a very healthy position right now with several players is their 20s and they have been playing for a while now. But Australia, they are living on borrowed time in the Test arena. I think they are definitely nose-diving at the moment. From what I gather after talking to a few people, they are not too optimistic about what’s coming out of the hut there.”

Botham also criticised the current Test ranking procedure and said, “I don’t understand this ranking system. In my mind, England and South Africa are the two best teams at the moment.”