Usain Bolt to undergo “training” to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The eight-time Olympic champion runner, Usain Bolt, has decided to try the sport of cricket as his new profession. The legendary sprinter has expressed his inclination towards the sport of cricket several times in the past. He has also admitted that he wanted to be a cricketer, not a Sprinter, however, he chose the latter option as his father insisted on him.
The sprinter has recently revealed that he is aiming for the cash-rich Indian Premier League and has started practising cricket. The 35-years old wants to play cricket, more precisely the Indian T20 league.
The revealed that on his father’s advice, he took up Sprint as his career in which he bagged eight Olympic golds.
“My father is a huge cricket fan, but when I got to higher secondary, I had two options – cricket or athletics. My dad said because of the system in Jamaica; it would be better to take up athletics. You just have to run fast in athletics while it’s tougher to get into the national (cricket) team’,” Bolt had told AFP during his promotional visit to India in 2014.
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Cricket is Bolt’s first love, not Athletics:
In his recent conversation with Hindustan Times, Bolt expressed his wish to be a part of the elite Indian Premier League.
He said that two sports, Cricket and Football, were most popular in Jamaica and due to his father’s inclination towards cricket, he grew up as a big cricket fan.
“Definitely. I will get my training on. I’ll get fit and get ready. The two main sports in Jamaica at the time was actually was football and cricket. I was a massive fan of cricket because my dad was a fan of it. He watched it every day, every chance you get, you would watch all the teams play so I grew up watching cricket.”
Bolt added that while growing up, he used to love watching the Pakistan team in action. He was a huge fan of pacer Waqar Younis but then realised that as a Jamaican he should support his home team.
“When I was really small, I loved the Pakistan cricket team. Waqar (Younis) was one of the greatest Pakistan bowlers ever, and I was a bowler, so I really enjoyed watching him. I was a big Pakistan fan until I got older when I noticed that I should actually support my home team,” added Bolt.
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