The debate whether T20 will eventually kill Test matches is recently fulled by West Indies Captain Chris Gayle when he said test cricket as we know it may soon wither away and he for one would not be saddened if that did happen. His words immediately created a cyclone majorly in the last generation players and the West Indian greats like Gary Sobers, Vivian Richards and English Great Sir Geoffry Boycott who brought glory to the game itself. Though Gayle eventually softened his tone but it is clear that he with many others like him see a greater future for themselves in the Twenty 20 format which is short, snappy and much more rewarding financially than the five day Test match.
In the corner, we have an over 100 year old format in test match which is a sign of maturity of a player as a cricketer. Playing test matches for your country used to instill a sense of proud and achievement. You need to mentally, physically and most importantly technically strong to survive in this format. Test matches has a great history to boost of.. Test matches started some great rivalries that we still cherish like clashes between Australia and England (Ashes test series) has a strong history of more than 100 years. Test matches has produce some of the greats like Sir Don bradmen Jack Hobbs and even Sachin Tendulkar for that matter.
But, looking at the current state of the Test matches, the future seems gloomy.. The pitches either has been so flat that they ensure a minimum of 1000 runs or have so much grass and cracks that even scoring 100 runs like climbing mount Everest which has ended games competitiveness. With no restriction of overs in Test cricket, most teams tend to play safe when they bat first except Australia and India. the Test matches need definite revamp.
On the other corner, we have T20 which is as fast as NFS and improving very fast. There is no safety score in T20 and if teams could score massively in 40 overs in T20, the least expected in a Test match is to score 500 in 125 overs. T20 is fast paced game and is here to stay. It teaches batsman how to pace innings and adapt to situation also providing versatility to the bowlers. At a time when the number of spectators is dwindling due to lack of interest in Test cricket T20 came as respite. A 3 hour game for which you don’t have to become potato couch for the whole day. But still the question remains that whether this fast game will be able to generate that skill and temperament that is required to become a successful cricketer of will it only produce hard hitting reckless short playing players. In the recently concluded IPL we saw that oldies who have established themselves as a legend test cricketers like Hayden gilli and kumble has done exceedingly well coz of their temperament and adaptability as per situation. I feel it’s time to change some conventional methods to make the baap of all formats survive. The onus is on ICC, how they tackle to situation or bring up the quality of test matches is still to be seen. I just hope that game survives without cutting it’s roots.
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