 "Senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates with teammates after dismissing Bangladesh batter Mominul Haque on Day 5 of the second Test in Kanpur. PTI")
Leading off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin supported the ideal of Test cricket being played at a select venues in India after Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium, which hosted the second Test against Bangladesh that concluded on Tuesday , drawing criticism for poor drainage and below-par facilities.
The idea of having dedicated Test centres in India much like Australia and England was first mooted by Virat Kohli in 2019 back when he was leading the team in all three formats. Kohli’s ideal had received support from spin legend Anil Kumble , who had also served as head coach of the Indian team for a year.
And on Tuesday, Ashwin said that having a fixed number of Test venues would certainly be beneficial for the players although he added that it was for the BCCI to decide.
“In this era of social media, everybody has a viewpoint. Not necessarily everything needs to be right about this. I am just clearing the deck for it. Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers attain by having so many Test centres is that you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country,” Ashwin told reports in Kanpur, where he was adjudged the Player of the Series after the conclusion of the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
“It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion among cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“The second of it is that, there are certain requisite ingredients that goes 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. But having said all this, does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does,” Ashwin added.
Read | BCCI defends giving India Test match to Kanpur’s Green Park: ‘Everything is being criticised’
England plays its home Tests at venues such as Lord’s and Oval in London, Edgbaston in Birmingham, Headingley in Leeds, Old Trafford in Manchester and Trent Bridge in Nottingham, with other venues such as Rose Bowl near Southampton and Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens having hosted a handful of Tests till date.
It’s a similar story in Australia, where Brisbane’s ‘Gabba’ usually hosts the opening match of the summer and Melbourne (Melbourne Cricket Ground) and Sydney (Sydney Cricket Ground) host the Boxing Day Tests and New Year’s Tests respectively.
Perth (formerly WACA Ground, currently Optus Stadium) and the Adelaide Oval in Adelaide are the other venues that regularly host Tests in Australia.
“When we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don’t play us at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues there.
“Because, they know that they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England. They have certain select Test centres and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that…” Ashwin added during the press conference.
The second Test in Kanpur witnessed incessant rain on Friday as well as over the weekend. While Day 1 was off to a delayed start and had to be halted halfway through the second session before being called off, Days 2 and 3 were washed out without a ball bowled.
What drew further criticism was the fact that poor drainage resulted in play not getting restarted quickly enough and resulting in longer wait times.
Had it not been for India’s slam-bang approach in the last two days, the match would have likely ended in a stalemate although India would still have won the series. After bowling Bangladesh out for 233 on Day 4, India blasted their way into the lead and declared on 285/9 in just 34.4 overs to give themselves a chance at achieving a result.
India would then bundle the Tigers out for 146 before chasing down the target of 95 in just 17.2 overs.
“Winning this game was important for us. It was a massive win in the context of the WTC. Rohit was keen that we needed at least 80 overs to bowl at them. He said even if we get bowled out for 230, it’s okay. He set the tone by stepping out aggressively right from the first ball,” Ashwin added.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was adjudged the Player of the Match for his whirlwind fifties in both innings while veteran off-spinner Ashwin was adjudged the Player of the Match for his heroics in Chennai (113 and 6/88) along with his five wickets in Kanpur.