T10 can work wonders for women's game, ideal format for Olympics, says former ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat

New Delhi: Former ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat feels that T10 could be an “ideal tool” to globalise cricket as teams wanting to play longer formats will become “lesser and lesser”. Lorgat opined cricket’s newest baby T10 which can “get over in 90 minutes” can work wonders especially for the women’s game as the International Cricket Council (ICC) eyes cricket’s entry into the Olympics. Lorgat has been appointed as “Director for Strategy and Development” to spearhead growth and development of the 10-over format cricket worldwide by T10 Sports Management. The company organises the Abu Dhabi T10 event, which will be held from 28 January to 6 February. “In future, lesser and lesser countries will be playing longer formats. More and more countries will be opting for shorter formats,” Lorgat said during a virtual media conference on Monday. So how does he think that T10 will grow unless the ICC introduces international tournaments? “ICC has already sanctioned T10 format. I am planning to meet my old friends in the ICC in some days and see what can be worked in terms of development tool. “T10 can work wonderfully for development of women’s game. It can be an ideal format for Olympics as it ends in 90 minutes just like a game of soccer,” Lorgat said. Lorgat believes that like Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is starting its own T10 tournament, other nations will follow suit. “Faster people adopt to the format, the quicker it will grow,” Lorgat said. The pitfalls of another shorter format is the tendency of corruptors to take more interest as the T10 league had seen in earlier years. “We would be naive to think that any cricket match is not at risk. But having said that T0 organizers have done very well to keep the integrity of the game intact. We can never let our guard down,” Lorgat said. Shaji Ul Mulk, Founder and Chairman of T10 Sports Management, said: “We have zero tolerance towards corruption. To keep the game clean, we had outsourced the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU). “We have even removed owners of teams at slightest hint of any wrongdoing.” Mulk is confident that Lorgat can use his good offices as a past ICC CEO to create multiple T10 properties in different ICC member nations.