'It's going the football way'- Kapil Dev worries that Test Cricket might die due to the uprise in franchise cricket

With T20 leagues gaining popularity around the world, there appears to be a major shift in the way cricket games will be held in the future. In addition to the Indian T20 League, the Pakistan Super League, and the Big Bash League, the UAE and South Africa are launching their own T20 cricket leagues.

Due to the number of franchise leagues in the world, the majority of which have attracted significant commercial interest, some experts have predicted that cricket may follow football's lead and adopt the practice of having players compete in club competitions for the majority of the year. Kapil Dev, the captain of the 1983 World Cup-winning India team, believes that the money made by franchise T20 leagues should be used to preserve Test cricket.

"I think it's fading out. The ICC has a bigger responsibility how to manage this game. It's going the way as football in Europe. They don't play against each country. It is once in four years (during the World Cup). Is this what we're going to have, the World Cup and the rest of the time playing club cricket?" Dev told the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

The veteran cricketer added that it was ICC's responsibility to ensure that ODI and Test cricket do not die. He also added that the rising number of franchise-based tournaments was not right for the game.

"In a similar way, will cricketers eventually be playing mainly the IPL or the Big Bash or something like that? So the ICC have to put more time into that to see how they can ensure the survival of one-day cricket, Test match cricket, not only club cricket," he said.

"Club cricket is OK for a while. The Big Bash is OK. But the South African league is coming, the UAE league is coming. If all the countries are going to play the club cricket, then international cricket will be only for the World Cup," he added.