Why Test cricket is the best cricket

Testing times for Test cricket? Over the past few months this has been the underlying concern for most cricket writers and analysts. Hardly a day goes by when I haven’t read an article, quote or a tweet lamenting the decline or demise of Test cricket as the foremost form of cricket. And to add to the woes of the cricket-commenting populace, the masses seem to take no part in their crusade to save Test cricket. An empty stadium is indeed a sorry sight for anyone who loves cricket and we have had the misfortune of seeing this on more than one occasion. Is Test cricket really dying? Has the temptation of limited overs cricket poached fans from following the longer version?

Personally, I have no answer to this question. If I was asked about what my favorite form of cricket is, my answer will always be Test Cricket. Watching players battle it out in pristine whites over a span of five days is how I like my cricket. And as a Test-cricket loyalist it is disheartening to see the decreasing popularity of what is considered as the truest form of the game.

Tests vs other formats

I began following cricket in the early 2000s and in this last decade itself, we have witnessed some of the best Test matches. Despite being on for five consecutive days, these matches were considered to be entertaining. But now with the advent of T20 cricket, IPL and the likes, the definition and context of “cricket entertainment” has changed to become “cricketainment”. But underneath all the glamour, hype and packaging of the shortest format of the game, lies the fact that its short duration and fluctuating tempo can never make for substantial viewing pleasure.

When it comes to watching, a match that finishes in merely four hours can never compete with a match that lasts for five days. When it comes to winning, a match that can be won by a team that dominates for two hours can never compete with a match whose winner can’t be predicted till sometimes that last session of play.

Test Cricket is the Best Cricket. I do not make this sweeping statement for sentimental reasons. Nor do I say it because most of the cricketers say that it is the highest level. I base this statement on the facts stated below.

Challenging format

Tests is the form that offers the toughest challenge for a player, it is the ultimate test of the talent, hard work, determination and skill of a cricketer. This explains why players like VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma are certainties for every Test India plays but, are left out of other formats and why a player of Yuvraj Singh‘s caliber is dropped out of India’s Test squad. Any player can be a part of a T20 game but to be a part of Test XI one needs to have proven himself over the years before he can be given a chance.

That is why a prolific batsman like David Warner hasn’t got the Baggy Green cap yet. Playing constantly for five days is never easy. It takes a toll on your body and only the fittest can survive. Ask Brett Lee, who had to give up playing tests because his body couldn’t keep up with the pace of the 5-day game, in spite of being successful with 310 wickets. Tests requires special skills apart from cricketing ones, it needs virtues like patience and diligence.

Hence you see Test specialists like Justin Langer, Matt Prior and Tharanga Paranavitana flourish in thi s format of the gamer. Unlike in the shorter versions of the game, Test cricket can never be an individual endeavor, it always has to be a team effort, it is the format that truly reflects the ability of a cricket team. A single player, however talented, cannot win you a Test. Look at Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s figures, with over 9000 runs and an average of almost 50, he has been the lone colossus of the West Indies side, but has still finished on the losing side more than any player just because the mighty Caribbeans are not what they used to be. For all these reasons, Test cricket is the best cricket.

Beauty of Test Cricket

Tests cricket maybe the oldest form of the game buy yet it will never go out of style. The sentiments that arise while watching a Test match can never match while watching a T20 game or even an ODI game. In which other format of the game will you find a team that was bundled out for 171 against the best bowling attack in the world will go on to score an imposing 657 runs? In which other format of the game will you find a team bowl out one of the best batting line ups in the world with just one run shy of the target? In which other format of the game will you find a batsman score a record-breaking 370 runs and then come 10 years later to convert it to the first ever 400 on the same ground against the same opposition!

Indeed such is the beauty of Test cricket that one can never predict any outcome or milestone, anything is possible. And for those who enjoy cricket only as an entertainment, the unpredictability of a Test match makes it all the more entertaining! From the time that I have started following the game, I myself have seen some cliffhangers that have been as entertaining, if not more, than a Virender Sehwag or a Chris Gayle blasting bowlers all over the park.