Yusuf Pathan can also become a bigger hero than Sachin Tendulkar in T20 cricket: Abhijeet Bhattacharya

Famous Bollywood playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya recently spoke to Sportskeeda, and he opined that the current cricketers do not deserve as much respect as former players because they wear helmets for protection. Bhattacharya also talked about the reduced importance of individuals in the sport because of commercialization in the T20 format.

In an exclusive chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda's Facebook page, Abhijeet Bhattacharya discussed the changes in cricket over the last few decades. The 61-year-old star mentioned that he was an ardent follower of cricket at one time, but he has stopped watching the sport of late.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya says current cricket stars can't be compared to legends because they wear helmets

Bhattacharya spoke about the growing commercialization in cricket and pointed out that there is no loyalty in the game right now. Because of T20 leagues, a player playing for a particular team turned up for another team in the next season. These kinds of events reduced Bhattacharya's interest in the sport.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya then shed light on the previous era of cricket when the likes of Sunil Gavaskar faced dangerous fast bowlers without any helmet. Bhattacharya also lauded Eknath Solkar for fielding at short leg without any protection.

"The importance of individual players has reduced in the T20 era. Yusuf Pathan can also become a bigger hero than Sachin Tendulkar, you never know. When I was young, cricket had so much significance that I used to listen to cricket commentary on the radio and imagine what was happening on the field."

"There used to be no helmets at that time. Andy Roberts, Lillee, and Thomson bowled fiery deliveries, and on the other end, Sunil Gavaskar played them like a hero. Even Solkar did not get a helmet while fielding at short leg. Now, the batsmen, fielders, and even wicket-keepers play with full protection," he continued.

Abhijeet Bhattacharya compared the safety levels in cricket to sports like football and hockey before concluding that the modern-day cricketers did not deserve so much respect.