The cricketing fraternity appears to be divided on four-day Tests. While a section of former players have given the new proposal a thumbs up, most of them are against the idea.
Former India cricketer Sandeep Patil, too, isn’t in favour of the new proposal. Talking to scribes on the sidelines of the Harris Shield final at the Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday, Patil went to the extent of calling the four-day Test a ‘nonsense’.
“I belong to the old school and I believe that in five-day cricket, the first day belongs to the medium-pacers. Test cricket itself is a test of character for a cricketer. It’s a test for every individual and you are taking that away,” Patil said.
Recent reports suggested that the ICC’s cricket committee plans to recommend trimming Tests to four days from five for the 2023-2031 World Test Championship cycle.
Up to ICC
In 2017, South Africa played a four-day Test against Zimbabwe — a concept that did not go down well with many. “A cricketer is put to test on the first day and also on the last day, when the wicket is turning. It doesn’t work for India, but for all the teams. It’s up to the ICC to take a call on this,” Patil, a former chairman of the national selection committee, said.
But at a time when Test cricket is struggling to attract spectators, won’t the new move work well?
“It all depends on how you are looking at it. Excitement is there in every season. How you look at it is important,” Patil said.
Focus on cricket
While addressing young cricketers, Patil also advised them to focus on the game and not get swayed by other temptations. “The game hasn’t changed at all from our times. It’s just that nowadays you have all sorts of creams (sunscreen) available, something that we didn’t. Nowadays we see even kids in Harris and Giles Shield putting on these creams. I would like to urge you to stop throwing tantrums,” he said.
“Don’t aspire to be a Hardik Pandya, instead try and follow into the footsteps of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. You may not like it but keep all your focus on the game and don’t get swayed by any other temptations,” the former national chief selector told the youngsters.
