India vs New Zealand: Who says Test cricket is dull?

I am devastated – I am in deep, deep pain – I am filled with a joy of such delicate wonder – I am stunned – I am in awe of the beauty of sport – I am angry – I am completely out of breath – I am moved to silence – I am in a mood to scream and weep – I look back and forward, and find both complete hope and total disappointment. In six weeks, we have witnessed two of the great Test matches in the history of cricket – one we should have won, and drew; another, we lost, and deserved to, but also played with such spirit over the last one and a half days that if there were a God, we would have won. [caption id=“attachment_1381927” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The joy of victory and the agony of defeat. Getty Images Sport[/caption] And both Tests should have been followed by at least two more. Instead, they are followed by only one more and hence the pain and the anger and the screaming and the weeping and the total disappointment. I watched the last day of the first South Africa Test at our home in Mussoorie – and the last day – the wonderful, wonderful last day – of the first New Zealand Test at the Ahiliya Fort in Maheshwar – two beautiful places that were perfect situations to watch perfect cricket. Test cricket – who says it is boring and dull and a waste of time – these two Tests were not battles, they were dances of such grace and skill, of such timeless and yet time bound passion, of such immense and yet minute skill and precision. This morning I really thought we would win, but the dismissals of Rahane and then Dhoni did us in. The Kiwis won, as they deserved to, and cricket won, as it deserved to. Can you imagine, can you imagine, if the South African series and the Kiwi series had been at least three Tests? Or even five? Can you imagine the sheer hope of it? But no, these two Tests of such glory and such spirit and such beauty are destined to become but small footnotes in the bank balance of today’s cricket. I would like to hear just a word - not a statement, that would be too much to expect – from BCCI president N Srinivasan about these two Tests. Just a word. After all, he is the leader of the group that runs Indian cricket, that organizes Indian cricket. but we will hear nothing from him, nothing as he plans the next series of IPL and how to rule world cricket. I want to see him in tears – of joy, of wonder, of love for cricket. I want to see him talk about the partnership between Kohli and Dhawan, and Jadeja’s daring, and Dhoni’s despair. I want to hear him say that Dhoni was out to a no-ball, and yet it was a wonderful Test. I want to hear him say something from his heart about the sport he controls. But I won’t. and because of him, and his cronies, we have only one more Test to look forward to in Kiwi land – may it be as eternal as the first. Virat Kohli, I salute you. Today you played as Gavaskar and Vishwanath and Dravid and Sachin used to play and Merchant and Manjrekar before them. You played with a deep, calm and electric skill. You took the fight to the enemy camp, and when you were dismissed – to the worst ball you faced – I knew that the gods were wearing black. All black.