Is Test cricket dying?
This is a question that haunts the mind of every genuine cricket aficionado (T20 fans can rest easy), and is something that does not have a convincing (read satisfactory) answer at present.
Every other day you hear of some former cricketer voicing concern over the same while a contemporary cricketer goes around saying Test cricket will never die -- remember even Sachin Tendulkar recently likened Tests to main course and T20 to desserts.
Contemporary cricketers though, in most cases, go on to play an increasing number of Twenty20 games as they translate in financial rewards, instant success and more publicity.
Those in love with the classical form of the game are palpably concerned about its future while those relishing the game's newest form can be best described by their apathy towards Tests.
This makes one ask the above question differently: Is T20 proving to be the death knell for Test cricket?
If Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Lalit Modi is to be believed, it is not the case.
"You have to first understand that cricket over the years was dying in terms of viewership and we needed to do something about it," he reasons.
"The Twenty20 format is not something we (read BCCI) invented. It is only something that we marketed well," he adds, before going back to defend the need of Test cricket in a world where only money talks.
"I understand we need to get people back to watch Test cricket. But in order to do that we have to first get them back to the stadium."
The above explanation seems more concerned with justifying the T20 format than ensuring the survival of Tests.
However, cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar doesn't blame the T20 version for the decrease in spectator interest in Tests.
Instead, he puts the blame on the 50-over format.
"50 overs cricket is the real culprit. For far too long it has promoted mediocrity," he justifies.
"When 80 per cent of the runs are scored through ones and twos and not through boundaries, even the fielders don't mind conceding them," argues Manjrekar.
Asked if it isn't a bit too much to lay the blame on a particular format, Manjrekar pinpoints, what he feels, is the biggest drawback of Test cricket (and even offers a solution).
"The biggest problem with Tests is the time," he reasons.
"People love the action but aren't willing to devote 6-7 hours a day to watch that action. If and when this problem is tackled Test matches will thrive."
Modi too offers a couple of solutions intended to sustain popular interest in the game's oldest format.
"Making Test matches a day/night affair is an option," he avers. "One of the suggestions I have given to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is to make Tests a day/night affair to allow people to come and watch it after their duty hours."
Before one can react to the above suggestion, the IPL supremo comes up with a second one.
"We need to schedule more Tests into the FTP," he says. "Unfortunately the programme till 2011 is already planned but we can certainly add more Tests to the calendar for the 2012-2020 programme."
Yet another possible solution comes from the man with the most runs in Test cricket -- Sachin Tendulkar.
"The BCCI should ensure free entry on the weekends for school students," says the 'Master Blaster'.
"I still remember when I was only ten I went to watch India play the West Indies at the Wankhede in 1983 and the board should ensure the youngsters get this opportunity.
"Out of them even if 10 per cent are converted into fans of Test cricket, this initiative can be considered as a success."
Easier said than done! Despite the various possible solutions on offer, the gloom remains.
"At this point no one knows where Test cricket is headed," sums up Manjrekar.
"We are too attached to the game to find a pragmatic solution."
The above explanation somehow seems the most pragmatic of the ones that preceded it.
And the question asked at the start still remains unanswered.
Photographs: Uttam Ghosh
