Veteran Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik criticised the format of certain cricket leagues around the world where there are six teams competing but four of them get to move to the knockout stages. Karthik, who also plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, took to Twitter to share his thoughts and expressed his displeasure with such formats. While he did not take any names, the ongoing Major League Cricket (MLC) follows a similar format and so does the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Both leagues follow a similar format as the IPL but have fewer teams in comparison.
“You know what do I find SILLY these days. In a 6 team tournament if you are going to have 4 teams in the playoffs and I am talking about leagues happening around the world. I mean, come on. Any views on this!!” he tweeted.
Following his post, a user suggested that in case of a league of six teams, the group stage topper has go straight to the final while the second and third teams can play a qualifier to decide the second finalist – a process that was followed in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023.
Karthik agreed with the user and said that such a scenario will increase the quality of matches during the league stage of the competitions.
“I quite agree with this. Fair play. Like how it was during the WPL. makes a lot of sense. Also I feel there will be a distinct difference in the quality of matches in the league stage if this format is applied,” he responded.