'We can't be having an ICC tournament every year' - T20 World Cup winner suggests ICC to schedule events better

Former cricketer Robin Uthappa believes that the importance of marquee ICC events like the ODI and T20 World Cups has started to fade away recently. Uthappa, who won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007,

has expressed that the apex cricketing body needs to restructure the way ICC events are organized, and reduce their volume to uphold the value of any ICC championship in its truest form.

Uthappa reckons that the fans, viewers, and the cricketing audience in general is getting overburdened with the amount of ICC events that occur every year, especially with the rising scope of franchise-based T20 leagues. The cricketer-turned-commentator further suggested elongating the gap between two global tournaments.

"I think the game needs to evolve from the administrative perspective. Today, how much value do fans and audiences hold for an ICC tournament every year? The novelty of it is wearing off, to be very honest, and with all due respect. And I think the novelty of the ICC championships must be there. I think it's an integral part, not just for the players but also for the fans, also for the viewers. It has to mean something. There has to be a little bit of a gap," Uthappa was quoted as saying by Tribune India.

Furthermore, the Coorg-born said that keeping one World Cup or the other every year will not help the international cricket grow to further heights. He has urged the ICC to understand and look after the direction in which the modern-day cricket is moving and act accordingly.

"We can't have or shouldn't have an ICC championship every year. And that is the hard truth that I think the administrators have to look at and face. You have to understand that the game is moving in a direction, and you can not force that direction into another space. You have to flow with that and try to maximise that towards where it's moving," the former wicketkeeper-batter concluded.

The first major ICC event of 2026 will be the Men's T20 World Cup, which will be held between February 7 and March 8. After just three months' gap, the Women's T20 World Cup will kickstart, set to be played in England and Wales. It will be interesting to see if Uthappa's advice is considered by the ICC for its future tournaments.