Dubai: Dean Jones, one of the finest batsmen to emerge from Australia, believes the Indian Premier League (IPL) will become the biggest Asian event of all time.
"The Indian Premier League (IPL) is not a run-away horse. In two year's time it may become the biggest Asian event of all time," Jones said.
The former batsman-turned-commentator is here for the Foster's Legends of Cricket Series.
"I understand that there are plans to introduce 3-D television from the quarterfinals [onwards] and with the new technology the impact will be massive," he said.
"The success of [the] IPL is reaching different demographics of people. This is a shot in the arm that the game needed," added the shrewd observer of the game.
Speaking on the diminishing popularity of Test cricket, Jones said One-day and Twenty20 cricket were overrated.
"We need to tweak and change Test cricket to suit the needs of the time and it should be played at night," he said.
"The rule regarding change of ball has remained unchanged from Don Bradman's time. Every 35 overs one should change the ball and, if required, even the length of the pitch, which is the only law that has remained unchanged."
Pep it up
Jones also went on to suggest that even fifty-over cricket needed to be made more exciting.
"The innings should be divided into 25 overs each. Most people are busy till 6pm so if they have missed seeing their favourite team bat first, they will have the opportunity to see them bat again from 7pm."
According to Jones, Test and 50-over formats should be promoted in the same manner that Twenty20 was promoted.
"If Test [cricket] and 50-over games are gone, where do you think you will pick the future stars for events like IPL?" Jones asked.
"India hated 50-over cricket until a great man called Kapil Dev came along and captained India to victory in the World Cup. All of a sudden they began playing more One-day cricket than any other country in the world," he said.
"India hated Twenty20 cricket too with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly even refusing to play it. So they picked [Mahendra Singh] Dhoni as captain and a bunch of youngsters and they went to South Africa and knocked out Pakistan to win the World Cup. Now they love Twenty20," he added.
"I say this with tongue in cheek but the fact is that if India can win a Test match final too, then this format too may get popular."
Jones also said that he believed that a Test championship should be played at a neutral venue, such as Dubai, once every four years to decide on the best Test team.
