Which India doesn’t take too long to get over Test match defeats. Unlike the long spell of national self-loathing after a World Cup or World T20 setback, the mourning of a World Test Championship loss is much shorter and more silent. There is outrage but no effigy-burning. There is the usual call for mass sacking of seniors but those voices lack sting.
Since WTC finals follow the IPL, fingers do get pointed at the T20 league but it remains the cat that can’t be belled. The cricket community too has a sense of guilt. After sitting spell-bound till the wee hours to watch MSD lift the trophy, you can’t overly blame IPL.
The ever-growing popularity of the perpetually bloating IPL indicates that the cricket ecosystem has made peace with franchise cricket undercutting and undermining Tests. The jam-packed stands at all IPL games, and the empty seats for the game’s oldest form at the same venues, are exhibits that make the fans willing co-conspirators in the alleged slow-death of Test cricket. This has been an old case, it takes one almost 50 years back.
It was in the 1980s that India first fell in love with limited-overs cricket. The thunderbolt that hit Indian cricket in 1983 had an impact on the collective cricket consciousness of the nation. Test matches lost their adhesive, it could no longer be glued into the minds of fans for eternity. Days-cricket would lose its archival value and face an identity crisis. The new racy format would capture the imagination of the cricketing world.
So who is to blame for the WTC debacle? Every defeat needs a scapegoat and also a comforting thought to hide the team’s obvious inadequacies. So conveniently, the scheduling, workload, fatigue, and conditions become the proverbial bushes that the decision-makers and fans beat around.The ever-growing popularity of the perpetually bloating IPL indicates that the cricket ecosystem has made peace with franchise cricket undercutting and undermining Tests. The jam-packed stands at all IPL games, and the empty seats for the game’s oldest form at the same venues, are exhibits that make the fans willing co-conspirators in the alleged slow-death of Test cricket. This has been an old case, it takes one almost 50 years back.
It was in the 1980s that India first fell in love with limited-overs cricket. The thunderbolt that hit Indian cricket in 1983 had an impact on the collective cricket consciousness of the nation. Test matches lost their adhesive, it could no longer be glued into the minds of fans for eternity. Days-cricket would lose its archival value and face an identity crisis. The new racy format would capture the imagination of the cricketing world India's Virat Kohli stretches as he waits to walk on to the pitch just ahead of the start of play on the fifth day of the ICC World Test Championship Final between India and Australia at The Oval cricket ground in London. (AP)
Who is to blame for the WTC debacle? Every defeat needs a scapegoat and also a comforting thought to hide the team’s obvious inadequacies. So conveniently, the scheduling, workload, fatigue, and conditions become the proverbial bushes that the decision-makers and fans beat around.d.
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