NEW DELHI: The incessant rain that washed out two and a half days of the second Test between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur has sparked a significant debate across the country about establishing five primary Test venues, similar to Australia and England.
Former India captain Virat Kohli voiced his support for the idea of having five dedicated Test venues five years ago, stating that while rotations can be applied to T20Is and ODIs, visiting teams should be familiar with the pitches when it comes to Test cricket in India.
“We’ve been discussing this for a long time now, and in my opinion, we should have five Test centres, period. I mean, I agree (with) state associations and rotation and giving games and all that, that is fine for T20 and one-day cricket, but Test cricket, teams coming to India should know, ‘we’re going to play at these five centres, these are the pitches we’re going to expect, these are the kind of people that will come to watch, crowds,” Kohli said.
However, current captain Rohit Sharma offered a different perspective on the issue, expressing a viewpoint that contradicted Kohli’s stance from 2019.
“If you want to promote Test cricket, it should be played in every part of the country and not restrict it to just a handful of big centres. I’m pretty pleased that Test cricket is being played in placed like Dharamshala and Indore. I am just happy that we have been able to take cricket to all parts of the country,” Rohit said last year during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“All the Test centres we have played in since Covid-19, the crowd has been decent. Delhi, surprisingly, had a superb crowd. We are not used to seeing huge crowd at big centres. So, Test cricket should be played everywhere,” he explained.
Star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin acknowledged on Tuesday that having a limited number of Test centers benefits players, but refrained from endorsing the idea for India, stating that it was above his pay grade to comment on that.
“Does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does,” Ashwin said after India trounced Bangladesh by seven wickets.
“Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don’t play us in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues where they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England.”
“They have select Test centres and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here (in India)? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that,” the player of the series said.
Before saying that having limited Test centres indeed helps, Ashwin elaborated how cricket benefits by having various venues for the traditional format.
“Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers attain by having so many Test centers are, you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country.
“It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion amongst cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.
“The second of it is there are certain requisite ingredients that go into making a Test match happen. Like, for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest on. These are no-brainers,” he said, making it clear that there should not be any compromise on required facilities.
