Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara has expressed his disappointment at the growing trend of players choosing franchise T20 cricket over representing their country in the longest format of the game.
With franchise leagues mushrooming worldwide, it has given an opportunity for players to dump their career in Test cricket in a bid to prolong their stay in the white-ball formats.
This is increasingly becoming a common occurrence in countries like the West Indies South Africa, where cricketers aren't well paid as their counterparts in India, Australia or England.
Speaking to Sportstar, Lara, who is currently the strategic advisor and the batting consultant of the Sunrisers Hyderabad, reckoned that the International Cricket Council (ICC) must make it mandatory for players to play a certain number of games for their country in order to become eligible to play T20 leagues around the world.
"Playing for the country should come first. Because I played for the West Indies, other opportunities opened up for me. It's disappointing to see young cricketers leaving Test cricket. The ICC should come up with a rule stating a cricketer must play a certain number of games for his country before he can play in the Twenty20 leagues. Something needs to be done,"
The champion cricketer also opened up about the sad demise of his former rival and legendary cricketer, Shane Warne, stating that the latter had a positive influence wherever he went.
Warne, 52, tragically passed away due to a suspected heart attack during his holiday trip in Thailand earlier this month.
"We've been involved in some fascinating duels. But after the day's play, he would leave everything behind and have a drink with you. As a commentator, he articulated the right issues. His influence was positive wherever he went." said Lara.
Indian cricket went through a change of guard at the leadership level, with Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid replacing a highly-successful duo of Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri.
India achieved a lot of success under Kohli, especially at the Test level.
However, Lara feels that Indian cricket is in such a good space at the moment that it will continue to do well irrespective of who is leading them.
"India has a very good team now, irrespective of who is leading the side. To beat Australia in Australia and win the decider with a second or third side speaks much about India's bench strength and the kind of pacemen it now has. Rohit appears a good captain with a cool head with the respect of all players including Kohli," he added.
During the interview, the 'Prince of Trinidad' also expressed his excitement about working alongside former rival and bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan.
Lara's Sunrisers Hyderabad will open their IPL 2022 campaign against Rajasthan Royals in Pune on March 29.