Nitish Kumar interviewed by Nick Friend for “The Cricketer”
“When you play associate cricket, you are playing under so much pressure because your life is on the line,” Kumar says.
“If you don’t qualify there’s no money. If there’s no money, there’s no cricket. With all those tournaments, they are one-offs. You play five games. There were a few instances we’d be the top team through the tournament, but then on the last day through net run rate you don’t even qualify.
“I have never really thought the tournaments are a great setup. As an associate cricketer, you’re basically putting three years of cricket – and three years as a cricketer – on the line.
“It only takes one bad game to not qualify because you play each team once. You either go on a run or if you have a poor game then you don’t have cricket for three years.”