TESTING TIMES: Thakur shrugs off four-day Tests and two-tier league proposals

BCCI PRESIDENT Anurag Thakur has shrugged off the idea of organising four-day Tests as well as the proposal of forming a two-tier Test league. Thakur explained that neither of the changes will solve the existing problem of poor attendance in Tests.

Thakur believes time-period of the game is not the reason for the format’s poor viewership. As reported by espncricinfo, the BCCI president stated that the longest format of the game is facing competition from other sports.

“I think we should not even get into that. We should analyse the shortcomings of Test cricket. Is it the paucity of time? The issue is why aren’t you getting enough crowd for a Test match? That is the basic issue. Ask yourself: football, how much time does it take to finish the game? Hockey, how much time does it take? American football, rugby. Fans, on one hand, have these kind of games which are finished in two hours at the most; cricket’s shortest format, it takes close to three, three and a half hours. So that is one reason.”

The BJP MP further added,

“Second, there is a generational gap I believe. We must look into the crowd which comes in England, Australia or in India. What is the average age who comes to watch Test cricket. India is a young country. We have a lot of youngsters. Whether they connect with T20, One-Day International (ODI) or Test, you can’t force the fan.  It is the fan who has to decide what he wants to see. You can give all the products, he is the best judge whether he has interest in A, B or C. So we are playing all formats. Let’s see which is the most watchable product.”