Sir — This refers to the article, “A formula to save Test cricket” (April 13) by Shakya Mitra. It is heartening that Test cricketers all over the world are giving more preference to the purest form of the game, Test cricket, than purely being lured by T20 leagues all over the world.
When T20 came on to the scene, we all feared that now Test cricket will die a natural death but we have been proven wrong as we have seen some really close and interesting matches during the Test series in various parts of the world over the last few years. Especially when a touring team gives a tough fight to the home team, we, the fans, really love that contest. But I endorse the writer’s views that despite such close contests, Test matches still are not in the best of health. And there are a few reasons for the same.
The powerhouse of cricket till the 1980s, West Indies, does not have that aura anymore and can be easily beaten by the likes of Australia, South Africa, England among others. India and Pakistan have not seen any keen contests over the last few years.
So the standard of low ranking teams have to improve to bring more equality in the competition. But whether that will happen is a million dollar question since now we have Ireland and Afghanistan as entrants in the Test cricket club.