Ashwin (PC: X/cricket.com.au) Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes T20 cricket will play a major role in taking the game to new countries and helping it grow worldwide especially after cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics while adding he is not too sure about the future of ODI cricket. Ashwin, who is set to lead Dublin Guardians in the inaugural European T20 Premier League (ETPL), said the league will help local players from Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands to improve. “Our job will be purely on T20 cricket and how it can get better,” Ashwin said to PTI.

“And if the game has to become global and it has to become an Olympic sport, the shorter the game, the more viable it is. And that’s how it’s going to become much bigger. And you will see a better sample size of players, which is also very critical for several of these leagues which run through the year.” The veteran off-spinner also shared his thoughts on the future of the game.

“T20 as a sport is here to stay. I’m not too sure about ODI cricket,” Ashwin said. Ashwin, who is also the mentor of Dublin Guardians, wants to help Irish cricket in getting the right amount of exposure.

“We owe it to the Dublin franchise and also Irish cricket in many ways, try and enable them, try and probably provide them with the right amount of exposure and opportunities,” he said. Reflecting on his long term vision he said,  “We want to make it about them. And that’s something that we were very clear the first day Rahul (Dravid as team owner) and I spoke about it.” For latest sports updates: Follow The post appeared first on .