Test cricket under spotlight as Kohli’s India travels abroad

It is a rarity to scrutinize test matches as much as we have in the past month. While it is unfortunate to note that only the ‘big three’ are able to attract such scrutiny, it is eventually good for the test match format going forward.

As Virat Kohli’s belligerent Indian outfit travels abroad there is a lot of baggage that gets attached to the longest format of cricket. Is it actually that tantalizing a format to spend five days for? Is everyone a home bully in test cricket, do only the shorter formats provide the much-needed unpredictability?

Over the years, we have seen a pattern in the way test cricket has generally panned out. It has gotten increasingly one-sided when played at home.

For instance, at home, the Indian team has been prolific having won all the series ever since England beat them in 2012. The lop side of Indian dominance is generally the square turners dished out to cater the strong Indian spin attack – a tactic that has been used ever since Indian players publicly criticized pitches abroad and the way they favoured home grounds.

Although the argument can’t be shunned, it has downgraded the quality of test matches. Test matches are increasingly ending within 3 or 4 days, which led to the experimentation of a four-day test between Zimbabwe and South Africa recently; which ironically ended within two days.

India hasn’t toured abroad since 2015, except for the one West Indies tour which was heavily affected by rain. They will be heading out to England for a lengthier test match series scheduled in July and then for a full tour in the Australian summer at the end of the year.

On the other hand, this series is under the spotlight because the Ashes couldn’t live up to its billing. It is not even because the Australians were dominant and Englishmen weren’t able to turn up at moments that decided the fate of the first three matches. No, it was the quality of cricket that was under the pump.

Australia has routed England at home before, they won’t be able to whitewash them in this series, but even the previous whitewashes had a story to tell. History will remember these Ashes series for the off the field razzmatazz than the on-field heroics because quite frankly there was not much to talk about what went on, on the field.

This Indian side, however, looks good on paper. While many Indian teams in the past were discarded because of their lack of bowling resources, this Indian side has options on the bench and a fast bowling all-rounder that is being compared to the likes of Ben Stokes.

South Africa, on the other hand, has a full-strength squad at their disposal after quite a while. There batting is boosted by the addition of AB De Villiers while their bowling attack is as good as any in the world at the moment.

The past month has not been a perfect advertising of cricket’s longest format. A format that has never faced a crisis it is facing right now. Therefore, it is imperative that cricket’s biggest money makers can advertise it by playing quality cricket abroad and break the stereotypes that are beginning to become a routine.