Former India head coach Rahul Dravid has defended the heavily-criticized USA leg of the T20 World Cup 2024, saying that playing at odd hours and coping with challenging facilities were necessary compromises to take cricket to a larger audience.
“Yes, in terms of facilities, it’s challenging. But if you want to grow the sport and make it a global game, then you have to be at events like this and make compromises, even if it means playing at odd hours in conditions that might not necessarily be perfect,” said Dravid.
“I don’t think starting at 10:30am was a problem for me, honestly. We are in the entertainment business, which caters to people who want to watch the sport. I had absolutely no problem with it,” Dravid added.
The USA hosting a such a big cricket tournament for the first time was seen as a stepping stone to building a fan base in the region ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics scheduled to be held in 2028.
“It was a great effort by the ICC to take the game to the USA and expose that audience to the game. There is a huge passion for the game in the USA. It was really nice to play in the USA,” Dravid concluded.
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