An Open Letter To BCCI: Please Save The Purest Form Of Cricket
Dear BCCI,
The glamour of T20 cricket has overshadowed the excitement that 50-over cricket used to provide a few years ago. The format is facing a massive threat of extinction and Ben Stokes’ retirement from ODIs to prolong his Test and T20I career might be the final nail in the coffin for the longer version of limited-overs cricket. We are talking about ODI cricket being extinct in a few years in a World Cup year and it tells how gloomy the future looks for the format.
For someone who is fascinated by the charm of T20 cricket – good luck as there is plenty of innovative cricket coming your way, but for someone who is an adherent follower of the game, and enjoys a gritty 50 off 100 balls on swinging or spinning tracks more than a 30-ball hundred, Test cricket remain the pinnacle.
When India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia twice, the whole country erupted in joy. Ahead of both the tours, the fans knew that beating Australia won’t be easy but they were optimistic as it was a battle between two equal teams. Australia were the hosts and were declared pre-series favourites. However, India went on to script history by beating Australia against all odds in alien conditions.
It must be noted that predicting the correct scoreline before the series was tough as the match was between two equal teams. Yes, there were predictions by experts but no one was absolutely sure. That’s what cricket is all about, it’s a game of uncertainty and the team that plays better cricket wins. The conditions were tough for the visiting teams but not unplayable.
Conditions do play a big role in the outcome of the game and each team is entitled to use their home advantage. That’s what makes winning away from home special. That’s what made Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh’s Australia special. Teams like India, and Pakistan were very good at home even then but they could never match the status of ‘mighty Australia’ as they couldn’t win overseas.
Coming back to the point, there is nothing wrong in using home advantage but taking it to an extent where there is no contest between bat and ball is not the right way. Every fan wants to see his team win but matches ending inside three days and teams getting bowled out for 100 is not the cricket we want to see.
We want our players to outfox the opposition with their skills and beat them in an equal contest between bat and ball. A win like that tastes sweet, there is no excitement in watching a Test match where the outcome is known even before the toss.
In recent times, wickets in India have been such that the series scorelines (4-0) could be predicted before the series. England, Australia, and South Africa, all have been hammered in India. With Ashwin and Jadeja in the kitty, India have presented dustbowls to visiting teams which has resulted in one-sided wins. The Indian batters too have struggled but the lack of quality spinners made the visitors handicapped.
Australia were destined to lose 4-0 in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy but Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat first in Indore backfired as India were bowled out for 109. Despite being out for 109, and later chasing 70-odd, no one was sure if Australia will be able to win the match. It was not because India had a lethal bowling attack but the conditions made them almost unplayable.
BCCI has played a significant role in making cricket a global sport but producing wickets where opposition teams stand no chance of winning, barring a few rare occasions, will give a massive dent to the already endangered Test format as it kills the contest which we fans so dearly want.
Neither we want to see sixes on every ball, nor do we want wickets in every over. We want a contest where the pendulum swing to and fro with batters and bowlers getting equal opportunity to dominate, and the winner is decided on skills and not by the conditions.
With warm regards,
An Ardent Cricket Fan