Test Cricket Vs Rest of the Cricket!

In the fast food age and the item number era of Mallika Sherawat and Malaika Arora not many heads turn for the timeless marvels like Kajol and Madhuri, but the real connoisseurs of art always prefer spending on the later ones, howsoever arty, slow pace and contemporary their style of entertainment might be. The true ecstasy evolves from the finesses, grace and sophistication and not by the means of brazen audacity or outrageous exhibition of power and flesh. One may eat unlimited Pizzas and Burgers but for survival he has to depend on the conventional Daal and Roti; an item song can add some zing to the movie but for that movie to be a HIT you got to have some really good actors, technicians and a well written script because a bunch of item songs can’t go on to make that movie a success; a girl friend or a boy friend might seem to be the most loving, caring and understanding companion but in due course nobody can replace thy parents who are the roots of one’s existence; And this holds true in all walks of life including the unanimous religion of this nation, CRICKET, whose new variants are posing a serious threat to its ultimate format, TEST CRICKET!

In this era of nonstop 20-20 and 50-50 cricket not many heads roll when the focus shifts to the apex format of the game. The latest and the shortest version of the game provides so much thrill, excitement, entertainment and moolah that it is bound to garner more eye balls and followers vis-a-vis Test Cricket. The most common argument given in favor of 20-20 and against the Test Cricket is that when one gets more thrill and excitement in just 1/15th of time than why should one waste 5 days of his time without a guaranteed result in the match. Not only the current crop of fans and followers are shifting their focus to 20-20 but even the younger generation of cricketers are focusing to make a mark in only the T-20 arena which is in stark contrast to the Rahul Dravid’s generation where the ultimate aim of any budding cricketer happened to be that of representing his nation as a Test Cricketer. But now even the talks of being a Test player have gone for a toss, youngsters these days get themselves equipped with a tattoo even before facing their 1st ball in the international circuit (read kohli), some are so very peculiar with their hair style, that they change their beard and hair styles more often than they eventually get to play for their country (read uthapa) and some show all-round skills right from their 1st game for the country but unfortunately these are all non-cricketing skills like dancing, sledging, mimicking etc(read sreesanth). So amidst all this, Test Cricket? One must be joking:)!

Ironically all one needs to succeed in the shorter format is just the brute power against the rock solid defense, impeccable technique, excellent temperament, choreographer’s footwork, tight rope walker’s balance and acrobat’s agility required to succeed in the test format. And in true sense these are the ingredients which make the Test Cricket beautiful! Undoubtedly the shorter formats generate more revenues and are more thrilling in nature but the gratification, pleasure and ecstasy one derives from the subtle nuances of test match cricket is second to none. No wonder the course of a match changes in a few balls in 20-20 cricket but the strategies, traps and guiles of the test match over the period of full 5 days and the subtle turn which the course of a test match takes over a session of play is just too alluring to be even compared to any other format. Moreover when the concept of this game was coined it was not to make money or to thrill the audiences the way 20-20 is doing today because anyways for those purposes we still had Stock Markets and Sherlock Holmes movies; naturally the aim behind this beautiful game (read test cricket) was to play the game at its utmost sanctity and derive pleasure from it.

For that matter all those uncountable centuries and the mountain of runs scored by Sir Sachin Tendulkar in this format, those magnificent spells of spin bowling and wizardry casted by the great Shane Warne, those deadly spells of swing bowling and toe crashing Yorkers bowled by the invincible Wasim Akram, those magnificent fourth innings match saving centuries scored by the champion batsman Brian Lara on the fifth day wearing track against Australia, those innumerable wickets taken by the wily old fox Muttiah Murlitharan on even the most placid of tracks, those jaw dropping murderous batting display by destructive Virender Sehwag and that sheer artistic magnificence flowing out of the bat of Very Very Special Laxman every single time his team is on the brink of a defeat are all far more superior in class and skill than those 20 ball 70 runs scored by some Keiron Pollard in a 20-20 encounter or for that matter those super over cliffhangers which decide the fate of the match by sheer muscle power as against the class and skills which the above mentioned gentleman showcased to decide the fate of a match. And undoubtedly Tendulkar, Lara, Warnie, Akram and others are the guys who are the all time favorites of even the younger generations be it the audiences or be it the budding cricketers. And even these gentlemen played 20-20 cricket or are still playing it, but they never endorsed it at the expense of Test Cricket, in fact at some point or the other they gave up their 20-20 or ODI career to prolong their test match career, so why are the present day budding cricketers who idolize these great gentlemen, running behind the money rather than continuing with the rich tradition practiced by their predecessors. And if their only aim of playing this game is to make money, than there are many other avenues where they can make more and faster money. But the broader aim of the players, organizers and all the followers should be to preserve the sanctity of this beautiful game whose byword has always been FAIR!

But on a macro level BCCI is responsible for the current mindset which is prevalent among the masses these days, be it the audiences or be it the cricketers. Though the more established and successful players are still choosing what they want to play and what they want to skip but by and large it is BCCI who is not only dictating a majority of its players by scheduling jam packed tournaments but is also by its financial might trying to maneuver things across cricketing boards of other nations. However on the face of it every now and then BCCI tries to project that its platter is clean by converting a 7 match ODI series into a 2 match Test series plus a 3 match ODI series, but that is still not doing any good to the Test Cricket. The broader aim of BCCI should be to promote the youngsters to play Test Cricket rather than luring them to be a part of filthy rich IPL tournament. Although tournament like IPL makes financial sense for both the board and players at the same time, but in the longer run it is doing not contributing to quality of cricket as such. And amidst all this the most worrisome fact is the state of Indian Test Team post Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman! They are in the evening of their career and we are yet to find their apt replacements; and with the increase in number of 20-20 games all at the expense of Tests, things are only going be to get worse.

There is nothing wrong with 20-20 cricket or for that matter any other shorter format of the game. But this formula of shortened game, heightened excitement and quick money is only dirtying the game rather than beautifying it. No wonder with the advent of these formats the instances of match fixing, spot fixing and gambling have risen enormously. However these malpractices can’t be attributed solely to the shorter format and rather it’s prudent to treat this as a sheer coincidence that these things didn’t exist in the old age era when only Test Matches were played because this has more to do with the individual’s conscience and morals than the version of the game he is playing. At the end of it, it’s an individual’s choice as to what he wants to play or what he prefers to watch but any form of the game shouldn’t be promoted at the expense of the other. And Test Cricket being the purest, fiercest and the most competitive form of cricket should be handled with utmost care and preserved as a real gem; youngsters should be taught the importance of true values and hard work and the fact that they should adopt the game for the sheer pleasure of continuing the rich tradition of Test Cricket rather than pursuing it for just making money, money should just be treated as a byproduct of pursuing this as a career and not the sole aim of adopting it. Only then we can dare to the see new Dravids, Tendulkars, Kumbles, Warnes and Gilchrist of Test arena, all of whom not only excelled in Test cricket but by their hard earned temperament, technique, balance and poise but also marveled at the shorter formats too.
Long Live Test Cricket!

Behind the scenes – A lot of my friends laughed on me when I took a sick leave on the 3rd day of recently concluded Ind V Aus test, but luckily it paid off as the little master went on to score his 14,000th run and 49th century on the very same day:). That’s Gratification for me!

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