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Former Indian cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri advocates for restructuring the number of teams playing Test cricket into two groups. He suggests adopting a format similar to football, where teams are promoted or relegated based on their performance. Ravi Shastri Stresses On Improving Quality Of Test Cricket.
Shastri believes this system would ensure more competitive matches and maintain high standards in Test cricket. By introducing promotion and relegation, teams would have a clear incentive to perform well, potentially revitalizing interest and excitement in the traditional format of the game.
Ravi Shastri On Improving Quality Of Test Cricket
Ravi Shastri emphasized the importance of maintaining quality in Test cricket to keep fans engaged. He pointed out that the excitement diminishes when there is a significant disparity in skill between the competing teams. Shastri made these comments at the World Cricket Connects event at Lord’s, hosted by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
According to Shastri, ensuring that teams of similar strength face each other in Test matches is crucial for sustaining interest in the format. He believes that matches featuring evenly matched teams are more competitive and entertaining, which is essential for the longevity of Test cricket.
By adopting a structure where teams are promoted and relegated based on their performance, the overall quality of the matches would improve, attracting more fans to the sport.
“When you don’t have quality, that is when the ratings drop, there are fewer people in the crowd, its meaningless cricket, which is the last thing sport wants. You have 12 Test match teams. Bring it down to six or seven and have promotion and relegation system. You can have two tiers but let the top six keep playing to sustain the interest in Test cricket.” Shastri said.
Here’s what Australia’s Pat Cummins thinks on the matter
Australia’s Test captain Pat Cummins also shared his views on preserving the longest format of the game. He suggested that there should be dedicated windows for red-ball cricket, during which no lucrative T20 leagues are scheduled. This would ensure that the best players from each country are available to compete in Test matches.
In the same event, Pat stressed how having an option between test cricket and a handsomely paying T20 tournament at the same time will naturally shift the players towards the T20 tournament.
“In Australia you know Test cricket is from November to January and basically no other cricket is going to get in the way of us playing Test cricket then. If we can have specific windows for IPL but then also Test windows, that makes the decision-making for the players a lot easier.” Cummins said.
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