Rahul Dravid defends US leg of T20 World Cup, says 10:30 am starts were fine

Paris, Jul 29 (PTI) Former India head coach Rahul Dravid has defended the heavily-criticised US leg of last month's T20 World Cup, saying that "playing at odd hours" and coping with "challenging" facilities were necessary "compromises" to take cricket to a larger audience.

Given the huge effort involved in conducting the event in the region, Dravid said he was fine with the 10.30am (local time) starts and the infrastructure used for the games in New York, Florida and Texas.

"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," Dravid said in a panel discussion on 'Cricket at the Olympics: Dawn of a New Era', celebrating the sport's inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, here on Sunday.

Dravid coached India to their first ICC title in 11 years in the tournament hosted jointly by the USA and the West Indies, where the knockout matches were played.

The USA hosting a cricketing showpiece for the first time was seen as a stepping stone to building a fan base in the region ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.

But, in order to also cater to the huge audience in the subcontinent, all India matches were held at 10.30am, which attracted a bit of criticism as it was felt that local Americans were not taken into consideration.

"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 said.

The former India player said the early start, in fact, ensured it was "even-steven" for both the teams.

"As a coach, the conditions were quite even because dew becomes a factor in a lot of day-night games. The toss can become a big factor, as we saw in Australia. But for 10:30, it was not a problem; it was even-steven for both teams.

"From a coaching perspective, I didn't mind the 10:30 game," he said.

Dravid had ICC CEO Geoff Allardice for company during the discussion and lauded the governng body for its audacious move of taking a World Cup to the USA.

"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; some of the games were packed," he said. PTI