NOT long ago, many players were heard complaining about a packed cricketing schedule and the frequent traveling. Now, they have another worry on their hands and it's a very serious one.
Not long ago, many players were heard complaining about a packed cricketing schedule and the frequent traveling. Now, they have another worry on their hands and it's a very serious one.
With the increasing popularity of Twenty20, Test cricket, which does not really set the cash register ringing as compared to T20 or one-dayers, has taken a back seat.
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Team goal
"I would love to play 12 to 15 Tests every year. As a team, we have a goal to be the No 1 Test side in the world and for that we need to play more Tests. Unfortunately, we are playing more one-dayers," Harbhajan Singh said at a press conference to announce Neo Cricket's international cricket schedule in India for the coming six months.
While wanting more Tests is a genuine desire among many players, the packed schedule does not really leave any room for Test cricket.
A solution to this could be the scrapping of bilateral and triangular series that India plays in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh every year. In the last nine years, India has travelled to Sri Lanka once every year and even twice on occasions. India travel to Sri Lanka next month for a triangular series with the hosts and New Zealand.
Nayan Mongia, who has made several such trips to the Emerald Isle, believes Test cricket could be accommodated in place of such tournaments but it's not possible all the time.
"There's no doubt Test cricket needs to be promoted, else there won't be any takers for it in the near future. Just playing a handful of Tests every year is not an ideal situation for the team or for the game," the former India stumper said.
Quality pool
"The ICC (International Cricket Council) also needs to look at this very seriously. If enough Test matches are not played, you will not have a larger pool of good teams and that will only add to the problem. Currently, you only have a handful of good Test playing nations," Mongia added.
The 44-Tests and 140-ODIs veteran, however, said that scrapping ODI tournament was not always advisable.
"If you have a tournament like the Champions Trophy coming up (in September), then you need ODI tournaments so that teams are well-prepared.
"Also, the World Cup is in 2011 and hence the team should ideally play more ODIs. Hopefully, after that, we will start playing more Tests."
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