I
can still remember those days when we used to get up in the morning and switch
on the TV and tune on to Doordarshan to watch the test matches. You can't miss
this because only the first hour was going to be telecasted. Again you had to
wait till they resume live telecast of the last stretch of the match. Those
were the days when the Internet connection was merely a way of lavishness and
only a few could afford it. Forget about the internet, even most of the people
don't have a cable network connection. The only way of enjoying the test match
was our very own Doordarshan. With all these obstacles, the test match was
still the most exciting encounter for the viewers. Stadiums were used to be
fully packed. People rushed from school or office to see their idols, to be a
part of their performances and soaked with the exhausting grueling battle
between bat and ball. In a nutshell, the test match was enriched with
excitement, emotions, and entertainment.
See Also : "Pink Ball Test - an evolution towards the future"
See Also : "Pink Ball Test - an evolution towards the future"
Now,
as per the rule of nature, this beautiful game also went through an evolution
and now standing at the beginning of the new decade of 2020, it has become
mostly a commercial medium. Not many people find the test match that exciting
as it used to be at one time. It is just a boring game that takes a whole day
with an in numerous number of dot balls, hardly hit boundaries. People don't
have that much of the time and it became very unpopular day by day. Now it is
the era of T20 which is infused with entertainment, expensive eye-glittering
inauguration program with the high-profile celebrities, innovative high-risk
shots to earn more dividends in every ball which are way deviated from the
classical textbook shots. Now test cricket being under the pump is finding
difficulties to survive. So, ICC has come up with the new idea of arranging a
4-day test which will initially be on an experimental basis and then it may be
rolled out in the actual scenario.
The test match viewership has been declined year after year where shorter format game has attracted more watch hours
Let's
first think why ICC has come up with this idea? They have already started the
day-night test to make things more exciting, to challenge the glory of T20.
From the commercial point of view, today most of the tests don't even go to the
5th day. Even the test winds up by the 3rd or 4th day, the hosting cricketing
board still needs to be paid for the full 5 days. So it will be financial call
whether to drag expenses for the 5th day when it is not attracting that much of
crowd. We saw in small test playing a venue like Ranchi, Indore in India or
Port Elizabeth in South Africa where people barely turns up in the weekdays and
significantly low even in the weekend. So from a financial point of view, it is
unjustified to held test matches for 5 days.
Test match ticket has gone unsold in Ranchi and Pune in the Test Series against South Africa
But,
the test match is not all about business. It's about emotions, exhaustive
battle between bat and ball. With all due respect to every player, its core
doesn't demand power hitting of Hardik Pandya or 360-degree shots of AB De
Villiers, it's all about tenacity of some Sunil Gavaskar against the
frightening pace of old Caribbean fast bowlers or mental strength of some Rahul
Dravid in the swinging condition of England under overcast weather. It is all
about the struggle of a visiting team's batsman to survive in the fifth day
turning track in sub-continental conditions. Now a day, people are more
attracted to the shorter format of the game to find some excitement, to relive
some joyous moments. But can you say the tension, excitement of 2005 Ashes
Series or 2001 India Vs Australia is anyway less than these? The pendulum of
the match swung like a tiny wig in a hailstorm. These series were arguably the
best in history. These see-saw battles make this format most beautiful. This is
the purest format of the game where the technique, mental strength, tenacity of
a player is tested. With a day being cut down in the revised format, I don't
see that excitement meter ticks the highest reading.
Apart
from all these intangible reasons, there will be a technical problem with this
new format. The proposal says that each day comprises 98 overs. With the sun
goes down quickly and it gets dark in the eastern part of the country, the only
option is to start the match around 8 to 8.30 am which is eventually
impractical. As an alternative solution, the hosting team should prepare a more
competitive pitch with something for both batsman and bowler. Then it will be
the capabilities of the players to explore and utilize that which indeed will
make the contest tougher, neck to neck. ICC should come up with some rules
rather than presenting one-sided dull pitches.
So
if we bring all these points under one roof, we can conclude by saying that the
proposal is a very much pro-commercial aspect rather than the natural essence
of the game. It is good that ICC is thinking about keeping the format popular
by coming up with new ideas, but a 4-day format doesn't look like the solution
to the problem and it should not be implemented to keep the inherent aspect of
the game alive.
Video Courtesy : Cricbuzz
Video Courtesy : Cricbuzz
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