He also lauded England batter Harry Brook for his outstanding double century and emphasised the need to promote Test cricket.
Telangana Cabinet Minister and former Indian cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin on Friday praised Sri Lanka for their remarkable run chase against England, saying that chasing a target of 400 runs seemed “completely unreal” in modern-day cricket. Speaking to ANI, Azharuddin said Sri Lanka’s determination to keep fighting despite England’s massive total was commendable, adding that the high-scoring contest provided excellent entertainment for cricket fans.
“Yes, India also won, absolutely. Otherwise, if you give up hope, then such a score isn’t made. But Harry Brook also played very well, I congratulate him as well. But this was a very good match, I mean it was entertainment. Before this, there was a match between South Africa and Australia, it happened back then. But it is good for cricket; people come and enjoy, as much as people enjoy, they should,” he added. “But I would like to say that Test cricket should also be promoted. India played very well, especially going to New Zealand. I congratulate them as well, they are playing very well.
Because they kept hope that we too can win, we too can make that much of a score, but I congratulate the Sri Lankan team very much. “To me, 400 seems completely unreal, but nowadays cricket has become like this. Reflecting on the magnitude of Sri Lanka’s achievement, the former India captain referred to South Africa’s historic successful chase against Australia in 2006, noting that such extraordinary run chases remained rare in ODI cricket. “But chasing 400, I think this is probably happening for the second time.
It was very good entertainment for the public,” Azharuddin said. Test cricket is the main… the main format of cricket is the Test format, Test cricket,” he said. And we hope that they win both the T20 and the One-Day series there,” he said.
The former India captain also congratulated the Indian cricket team on its victory against New Zealand in the first T20I, praising the players for their performance away from home and expressing hope that India would win both the T20 and ODI series.
