Preserve Beauty of TEST CRICKET !
Dear Team India,
As the BGT is coming to an end the excitement level at Ahmedabad has risen first due to the Prime ministers of both countries will get together to highlight the strong 75 years of togetherness and later on it will turn into a battlefield for both the teams at the ground.
It is pretty simple for India if they want to qualify for WTC finals beat Australia and qualify otherwise hope SL loses against NZ in NZ. A 2-0 win for SL in NZ and loss for India would end India hopes of qualification. India would hope Indore was just a blip on the road and they have got the wheels rolling back.
Ahmedabad traditionally is a good track to bat on but given the nature of the pitches dished I won’t be surprised if we are once again in for spin test. Even if it turns there will be no issue but the bounce on the pitch should be even, it then becomes a game of skill. Whoever adjust well will find success.
In Indore the 5th delivery of the match exploded and that is not a good sign for any cricket wicket. It could immediately send an alarm in batsmen mind and the footwork will go haywire. Batting is combination of Physical and Mental application. Pitches where the ball bounces uneven we have often seen the batsman loses the battle mentally.
A good or even decent professional cricketer would not mind turn on the pitch, but he will definitely ask for even bounce. It gives him liberty to express himself with no inhibitions in the mind. Foot work becomes easy when you are sure of the bounce. If it is uncertain batting essentially becomes a lottery.
We all know lottery is part of gambling and when cricket is played with that attitude the purist of the game will run away. Winning or losing is part of the game and I completely agree with Indian Captain, and it is not the birthright to win every match. India has record to envy at home is another reason for world media to react on pitches but not all criticism is fair.
Test matches not reaching 5th day is a concern but is it solely because of the pitch.? The purist wants the test match to last 5 days and it has to be seen as a battle of character. Does a modern batsman have patience to play 100 balls and score 35 runs.? If the answer is yes Test Cricket will survive. A 35 of 40 balls in test cricket in the long run will produce 3 days. You can do your math.
Bazball will fail 75 out of 100 times and you will see it in future and test cricket cannot take that dangerous path. We have T20 & ODI for that purpose. I am the fan of test cricket who wants to see that Ishant Sharma spell to Ricky Ponting in Perth again. For me that is Test Cricket. I would like to see Atherton footwork examined by ruthless Donald. These are the memories of this beautiful game.
Who can forget the Dravid- Laxman masterclass at Kolkata 2001.? Will Test Cricket give me that again I don’t know but Test Cricket should always be a battle of chess and if you ask deep down to every player, he would like a cricket pitch to score runs and take wickets by his skill and not by external factors. That is the real joy of this beautiful game. If you agree with me, send me your comments below. I would be reading them.
I am the kid from 90s and fell in love with the game because of perseverance and temperament of cricketers. Ordinary Indians are looking for two things in life hope and inspiration. They search it in the role models who play the game. If we remove these basic qualities from the game, we send a very wrong message to the youngsters of the game. We want quick success, but it is like junk food may give you instant happiness but no satisfaction.
I am from an era where Dravid ,Chanderpaul and Kallis use to warm up by batting one session. The breed is fast declining and I think as a fan of this beautiful game it was imperative to pass this message to one of the richest boards in India. Everything that glitters cannot be gold in life and me for once has just stood up now for long life of Test Cricket and this no way is message to only India, but it is also for the World Cricket. ICC needs to look into this too.
Hoping the administrators of the game take note of this and make Test Cricket more balanced and it should be only skills of players which should be on display and if as mentioned by some of the past cricketers and administrators winning WTC is making them do this than I would suggest ICC to scrap the WTC. Let the team with highest points in the year end gets that mace as it used to be. Only for that one final match we cannot put the History of this Beautiful game at stake. I for once will strongly oppose even if India wins.
The traditions of this game cannot be tampered with, and the good old attritional test days can once again give us joy. It’s my only hope as I sign off to seek further inspiration from our beautiful game.!
Thanks
An Ardent TEST CRICKET FAN.
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Good articulate content.. Test cricket needs to survive for all other formats…of the game.