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Gautam Gambhir: Test cricket should be made more appealing to the masses
Gambhir also added that the ICC should use one cricket ball in the Test format. Presently, the SG balls are used in India, while the Duke balls are used in England, Ireland and West Indies. The other countries play Tests with the Kookaburra ball.
Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir feels that Test criket is losing its mass appeal, and that the format should address some core issues if it wants to survive along with T20Is and ODIs.
The ICC, realizing this, have introduced the World Test Championship, where nine teams play 71 games in total over 27 series over the next two years. With 60 points up for grabs after every win, Tests now have a purpose, which the governing council hopes would attract more viewers towards the game.
"It is a no-brainer that Test cricket must jazz itself up to survive the onslaught of T20s and alternate entertainment options. I am a die-hard traditionalist, but Test cricket needs to appeal to the millennials. The core issues need to be addressed," Gambhir wrote in his column for The Times of India.
He also added that the ICC should use one cricket ball in the Test format. Presently, the SG balls are used in India, while the Duke balls are used in England, Ireland and West Indies. The other countries play Tests with the Kookaburra ball.
"I can understand the commercial compulsions of this but it is strange to be in a common competition with variable apparatus," he said.
"Maybe ICC can list out standard parameters for a cricket ball to be used in Test cricket and float a tender for the manufacturers. Whoever meets them at a desired cost can be the 'bowling partner of the ICC'. A spinner like R. Ashwin will be thrilled if he gets a cricket ball with the healthy seam of SG, or Dukes," he added.
