Usain Bolt knows all about life in the fast lane and it wasn’t a surprise when he picked T20 as his favourite form of cricket, a sport that’s in his “blood”, thanks to a passionate follower in his father.

Bolt, one of the greatest athletes with eight Olympic gold medals to his credit, wanted to become a fast bowler growing up in Jamaica and now as the ambassador for the ICC T20 World Cup, he is finally getting to live a cricket dream.

“I grew up on cricket. My dad was a massive cricket fan and still is. It is something that I have always in my blood.

“To actually get to be a part of cricket again as an ambassador, it is wonderful. I never got to live my dream of being a cricketer so to be ambassador of T20 World Cup is wonderful,” Bolt said on Wednesday.

The world record holder in the 100m and 200m called time on his glorious career in 2017 and seven years on, his charisma too remains unmatched.

The T20 World Cup, to be hosted jointly by the US and the West Indies, will begin on June 1.

Eisenhower Park in New York, the first modular stadium in international cricket, will host eight of the 16 matches in the US with Dallas and Texas hosting four each.

It will also host a warm-up match on June 1 between India and Bangladesh.

Bolt spent the last few months travelling the world for music and football among other things and therefore, didn’t get much time to watch live cricket on TV.

“I have not been able to watch as much as I would like to but when I get time I try to catch up on T20s,” said Bolt.

Speed continues to excite Bolt the most and calls T20 the best format of the game.

“T20s for sure... When they started it was a great idea and still is. It compresses the game because you have to be strong and quick but also be strategic, set a field and get things done quick...”

Bolt agrees that the future belongs to the slam-bang format. “I think the T20s and one-dayers are still massive in the Caribbean. People actually don’t enjoy Test cricket that much. It is all about the speed of the game, big hitters like Andre Russell, so for me that is the direction that is going in.”

Does he like anyone among the Indians?

“Like my father, I always support the West Indies. But yes, I have also been a Sachin Tendulkar fan. He and Brian Lara were part of my life growing up. It was a great rivalry,” he said referring to the two legendary batters. Among the current lot, Bolt says “Kohli is the standout one for sure”.