'Ramadan tournament': Shahid Afridi claims Karachi invented T20 format in cricket

KARACHI: Since Shahid Afridi’s autobiography 'Game Changer' has come to the town, the series of revelations does not seem to stop as former skipper shared some factual and controversial details about his personal and cricketing life in the book.

In his book, Afridi cast some light upon the shortest form of cricket  and  wrote that there were not a lot to choose during his growing-up years even U-14 kids had to play 50-over games as  Twenty20 cricket did not officially exist under International Cricket Council (ICC)  but  it was fairly common in Karachi's Ramadan  cricket circuit, according to the legendary cricketer.

He revealed that the T20 format  is much older, and claimed that  it was first invented and played  in Karachi during  the nights of Ramadan   as players  used to shun  playing in the day time under the scorching heat  during  fasting hours.

Undoubtedly,  the passion for this game is increasing in each coming generation  as this  format of cricket spread very quickly in the 1980s through the country from its starting point in Karachi. And it  got  much fame globally after   ICC adopted it.

T20 matches are  fast and furious, with something dramatic happening with every ball. At 20 overs each innings, matches are completed quickly, and it's easy to organise them after dusk during Ramadan.