The veteran spin all-rounder of the Indian team, Ravichandran Ashwin, has refused to comment on the model of Test centers in India, which was the talk of the town during the two days that got washed out at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur between India and Bangladesh. But he hasn’t commented on the aspect because of his low pay grade.
A few years ago, it was the former Indian captain Virat Kohli, who spoke about the new design of having five Test centers in India, which would be helpful not only for them to understand the conditions better but would also be comfortable for the opposition side to prepare well.
“Sticking to five Test centers like England and Australia will not work here. The BCCI has a rotation policy,” The BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla highlighted in a recent presser.
The expression from Kohli came on the back of the low crowd during their three-match Test series against South Africa in 2019 in Vizag, Pune, and Ranchi. Even when they tour Australia, they are certain about the five grounds where they are going to play the red-ball games.
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For England, it’s the same in the case of the longest format. Whenever they need to engage the game around the UK, they choose the ODI and T20 format for that.
Ravichandran Ashwin points out the culture of England and Australia on Test centers
The experienced all-rounder of the Blue Brigade, Ravichandran Ashwin, was asked to share his view on this aspect of the game. He also felt that he would mostly be helpful to both teams.
“Does it help a player if you have just a few Test centers? Most certainly, it does.” The Chennai-born said after India won the Test series over Bangladesh with a 2-0 margin thanks to their seven-wicket win in the second Test in Kanpur.
“Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centers. They don’t play us in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues where they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England.” Ravichandran Ashwin cracked.
Australia has its traditions of playing in Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. During the trips to England, the board generally divides the games among Trent Bridge, Headingley, Lord’s, Kennington Oval, Edgbaston, and Manchester as their major Test centers.
“They have selected Test centers, and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball games. Can we do it here (in India)? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that.” Ravichandran Ashwin, who won his 11th player of the series award in red-ball games, said.
Even though he believed that it would be important to have limited Test centers, the 38-year-old also narrated how the game gets the advantage of having so many venues for the traditional format.
“Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers attain by having so many Test centers, you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country.” The off-spinner claimed.
“The second of it is there are certain requisite ingredients that go into making a Test match happen. Like for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest in. These are no-brainers.” Ravichandran Ashwin touched on the importance of not compromising on any required facilities.
He ended the series with 114 runs in two innings, besides finishing as the joint-leading wicket-taker of the series with 11 scalps at an average of under 13.