This is one of three long-form series taking place at the same time, but the only one with two full strength teams participating
Alagappan Muthu24-Jan-20244:30
‘Everyone’s responsibility to ensure Test cricket stays alive’
Joe Root screamed to no one in particular, and it was a fun word too. Rhymes with fire truck.He is, as he often is, in the middle of a marathon net session and clearly he expects all of these things to go perfectly.It’s good that they don’t though, because that one mistake feeds Root in a way a million shots off the middle of the bat couldn’t.Later on, he makes the same play that in his mind resulted in a wicket off England’s spin-bowling coach and he absolutely nails it, the bat face coming down on the ball, ensuring this slog sweep doesn’t go up in the air. Yet the only one who looked in any way pleased was the guy getting hit – Jeetan Patel. Root couldn’t care less. He has to be among the 74% who voted that Test cricket is still the pinnacle in 2022. And there will be an exhibition of it for the next six weeks.Related
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In some ways, there better be.India vs England is one of three different Test series kicking off together. And outside of the usual pressure – like maintaining a proud home record or stress testing a bold new way of life anywhere in the vicinity of a red ball – there is something else at stake here. Because it is the only series with both fighters at full-strength. West Indies and South Africa have sent compromised squads on tour, which has been framed as another sign that the format is dying.Now imagine if any, or worse, a majority, of these five Tests turn out to be duds. It isn’t likely because the conditions are expected to be bowler-friendly and when that is the case the cricket tends to be very watchable. What can potentially happen is a one-sided series where the jeopardy vanishes.People realised pretty quickly that the game had a sustainability problem when big-name players began to streamline their time on the field. Ben Stokes used that very word when he retired (albeit briefly) from ODIs. A month later, Trent Boult opted out of a New Zealand contract in order to spend more time with his family and to maximise on his earning potential in T20 leagues while he was still at the peak of his powers.R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja tune up for what everyone hopes will be a competitive series•PTI If two big-name teams with all the talent and resources available to them, end up being unable to do the one thing that makes sport so good – being unpredictable – then couldn’t the others who are significantly less fortunate use it as a reason to justify their pulling back from Test cricket? “If India and England can’t make it fun, why bother? Why shouldn’t we put our focus elsewhere?”South Africa’s investment into their T20 tournament already looks like a very smart play. It has already turned a profit, when it was meant to only after five years or so, and from the make up of the crowd that attends the matches – families, kids – it does look like they are accomplishing their aim of taking the game to the next generation. Also, that one gif of a woman yoinking a mug of beer from the man sitting next to her and downing it well before the camera had to pan back to show the next ball being bowled suggests that a day at the SA20 is fun whether you’re there to watch the cricket or not.T20 superstars may never command the hushed tones with which people speak about Brian Lara’s 153* or Shane Warne’s ball of the century but that doesn’t mean there is no scope for fulfilment.On Wednesday, a couple of hours after the India captain Rohit Sharma addressed a press conference in Hyderabad, the Big Bash League final kicked off at the SCG and a young man named Spencer Johnson thanked his franchise for changing his whole life. The IPL auction had the same impact on Shubham Dubey, Sameer Rizvi and Kumar Kushagra. So you see why Test cricket is under threat. Its pride of place has always been because it is entirely unique and that is still true in some ways – the challenges it presents players, the hope it draws out of the audience – but in others – the opportunities to win trophies, to build careers – there’s some pretty stiff competition. After 150 years, it was bound to happen.Joe Root in the middle of a marathon nets session•AFP”When I started playing under-19, that is when I used to watch a lot of Test matches even before then as well. That was 20, 25 years ago. So, yeah, obviously things change,” Rohit said. “But as far as our team is concerned, we would like to go out there and play our best Test cricket talk about test cricket being the most important cricket, all of that we can do, obviously for the you know, generation that’s coming up for them to know that this is the cricket that you want to play and want to excel as well.”Stokes and Brendon McCullum are doing something similar in encouraging England to play Test matches with sweet, sweet abandon. It doesn’t mean they’re any less committed to winning, just that they want a little more out of putting their minds and bodies on the line over five whole days of existence. And they got it. In Pakistan. In New Zealand. And, most recently, in the Ashes.When people of that calibre are putting in that much effort, there will be results.Yashasvi Jaiswal is practicing his slip catching. He flings himself to the right and grabs the ball inches off the turf. On either side of him, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, erupt into noise. It carries over the stands and into the hallway that leads into the press conference room at the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium. All of them care what happens over the next six weeks. When the artists care about the art, the art more often than not survives. But does it have to be this hard?