Be it the buoyant group of Bharat Army on English grounds or the thousands of Aussies trying to superimpose the poms down under or be it the legendary Barmy Army singing and chanting their way to various parts of the cricketing world, each one of them spend their money on cricket in anticipation of something. This is generally associated with high profile players who tend to be the focal point of the match. And when we think of high profile players, is there anyone having a higher profile than Virat Kohli right now? Probably not! Former players like Geoffrey Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, Shaun Pollock and many broadcasters like Harsha Bhogle and Mark Nicholas have been emphasizing on the need of keeping test cricket alive as it is the purest form of cricket. Many have criticized T20 cricket for the way it is overshadowing test match cricket. Former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding has been very harsh on T20 cricket but at the same time he also says that there are too many test matches being played that mean very little if not nothing! For example, 2 match test series is probably the most irritating thing there is right now. This is because we can't figure out the better team as there is such a small sample size to look at. 5 match series or even a 4 match series generally gives us the idea of which the better team is because you can't win a 5 match series playing in bits and pieces! Yes, T20 cricket is great for the game. It has brought plenty of positive things to the game. One of biggest positive is that it has attracted new audience which is great. The money T20 cricket generates provides assistance and emergence to many young and aspiring cricketers around the world. But if it has any negatives, one of the biggest negative is that it is shifting the focus from test cricket to itself. This is where test cricket and players playing test cricket must play it's part. And this is where we realise that players like Virat Kohli are great for the game, not only because they produce outstanding performances day in and day out but their enthusiasm and presence on the field makes people look at them. There are many players like Kagiso Rabada, Ben Stokes, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Mitchell Starc who like to show their emotions on the field. These kind of players bring a different dimension to the game. They talk about sledging and banters, but I don't mind players giving send offs or having a word or two just to ignite the competitions within the game. We see Virat Kohli charged up every now and then when there is a fall of wicket. Many people think it is childish and he shouldn't be showing so many emotions as he is the captain. But if it brings the best out him, why not? The Ashes is the best example of charged up atmosphere. Over 90000 people turned up at the MCG last year including almost 10000 touring British fans just to see a defleted England play against the favourites Aussies. Earlier this year, Cape Town saw almost a full house at the Newlands during India's tour of South Africa. And just a couple of days back, Edgebaston crowd was in full swing which witnessed probably the best test match of this year. So there is love for test cricket in certain parts of the world especially when India, England and Australia are playing. But England have preserved test cricket the best. They have a very set schedule where they play 7 home tests every summer and one winter tour is almost a certainty. English crowd still love test cricket and the fact that franchise based T20 league isn't there makes it a little easier for the crowd!
A couple of months back, ICC finally announced the format and the approximate period when the test championship will be held. Does it make test cricket interesting? Probably yes probably not. It will mean more meaningful test cricket will be played. It will surely create competitiveness among the top nations who will fight each other to be in the top four to be eligible to play the test championship. But in the hindsight, it will mean that the lower ranked teams won't have anything to play for and it will again create meaningless matches. This is where Michael Holding gets it absolutely spot on when he says that there should be two divisional cricket in which division two teams will be fighting for a promotion and lower ranked teams in division one will be fighting to avoid relegation. This will make surely that there is competitive cricket throughout the year amongst everyone.
ICC also has to take some steps towards keeping test cricket alive. One of the biggest problems is the punishments and the bans that are handed to the players for non convincing reasons. Yes there should be some limitations on sledging and interactions between players on the field but it shouldn't exceed because if players start to fear to 'sledge' on the field, dare I say it will make the game boring.
And the last but not the least point is the day night cricket. Every country except India has accepted day night cricket and I am completely with it. There have been some very good day night matches especially the Ashes test at the Adelaide oval was truly a spectacle. More importantly, if there is one solution to all of this, it is day night cricket because 10am to 5 pm isn't the ideal timing for people who work. Day night cricket allows all the people to come and watch the game. India's point of view suggests that they are worried about the dew factor but that isn't quite relevant because playing conditions are same for the both teams and such factors become almost ignorable when there is such a big picture to look at!
A couple of months back, ICC finally announced the format and the approximate period when the test championship will be held. Does it make test cricket interesting? Probably yes probably not. It will mean more meaningful test cricket will be played. It will surely create competitiveness among the top nations who will fight each other to be in the top four to be eligible to play the test championship. But in the hindsight, it will mean that the lower ranked teams won't have anything to play for and it will again create meaningless matches. This is where Michael Holding gets it absolutely spot on when he says that there should be two divisional cricket in which division two teams will be fighting for a promotion and lower ranked teams in division one will be fighting to avoid relegation. This will make surely that there is competitive cricket throughout the year amongst everyone.
ICC also has to take some steps towards keeping test cricket alive. One of the biggest problems is the punishments and the bans that are handed to the players for non convincing reasons. Yes there should be some limitations on sledging and interactions between players on the field but it shouldn't exceed because if players start to fear to 'sledge' on the field, dare I say it will make the game boring.
And the last but not the least point is the day night cricket. Every country except India has accepted day night cricket and I am completely with it. There have been some very good day night matches especially the Ashes test at the Adelaide oval was truly a spectacle. More importantly, if there is one solution to all of this, it is day night cricket because 10am to 5 pm isn't the ideal timing for people who work. Day night cricket allows all the people to come and watch the game. India's point of view suggests that they are worried about the dew factor but that isn't quite relevant because playing conditions are same for the both teams and such factors become almost ignorable when there is such a big picture to look at!
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