Jamaica’s sprint star Yohan Blake, who has earned accolades worldwide for his 100 m and 200 m feats, does not want his kids to take up track and field athletics as a career.
Blake is in Mumbai to promote the Road Safety World Series, a T20 series to be held in February next year. The cricket event is likely to feature retired cricket greats like Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, and Virender Sehwag.
Yohan Blake Wants To Play For RCB And KKR Teams In IPL
“I am the second-fastest in the world, but track and field is the hardest sport. I do not want my kids to take it up as a career. Instead, I would love them to play cricket,” said the Jamaican.
“I have two more years left in track and field and then its cricket for me. But, I do not wish to play for the West Indies. I would love to feature in franchise cricket; I would even love to own a franchise in India. And most importantly, play for either Kolkata Knight Riders or the Royal Challengers Bangalore,” he was quoted as saying by Mid-Day.
“Chris Gayle [fellow Jamaican] was there for a long time. I love the Bangalore team especially Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Also, the Kolkata team, because Gayle has played for them too,” he added.
Andre Russell, who often sets the stage on fire for the KKR, is also a fellow Jamaican Blake is proud of.
He also revealed he had received an offer from the Caribbean Premier League team Jamaica Tallawahs this year but refused it due to lack of time. “Yeah, I got an offer from the Jamaica Tallawahs this year, but I could not take it up because I was focusing on training for the World Championships [Doha], the Olympics coming up and World Championships again [March 2020 in Nanjing, China]. It’s a bit tough for me,” he said.
Blake, who is now eyeing gold in the next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, is interested in playing for either of the two IPL franchises: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) or Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Knight Riders franchise also takes part in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in the name of Trinbago Knight Riders.
