Cricket has established itself as one of the most loved and followed sports around the world in the past few decades and its popularity can be witnessed by all the big number of fans who turn up for every cricket event all around the year.
Moreover, Even this sport has seen some biggest changes in its rules , formats and guidelines ever since its inception but never ever it has lost its charisma and touch amongst the Global cricket fans. As of now , the sport is played in three formats on international level i.e. T20 ,Test and One day and it’s the test cricket which is still been labeled as one of the best formats by the players and even the cricket experts around the world.
Although Test cricket has seen a dip in its popularity in the past few years after the inception of T20 cricket, it is still ruling the hearts of every cricket fan around the world. Whilst we said that, let’s take a look at 5 reasons which makes test cricket better amongst three formats.
#1 Real test of patience and skills
Test cricket provides the real test of patience, skill and grit of a player whether it’s about bowling, batting or fielding. Being a batsman, you can’t really just power off every ball like in the T20 cricket and One day format and its quite necessary for you to stay at the pitch for as long as possible and score those significant runs for your team. This is the sole reason why its been said that “ a Good Test batsman can play well in T20 and OdI format but a good T20 or ODI batsman can’t always repeat the same in test format”.
On the other hand, even the bowlers have to show lots of skills and patience on the field as they have to keep bowling with all the grit and strength even when they are not getting the required help from the pitch. It also comes as a possibility that the bowler has to bowl 10-15 over in a spell and this is something which tests their capability to survive on the test level for longer durations. Secondly, when it comes to the fielding part, the player might have to stay on field for the whole day and this often bring all the fatigue and restlessness on any given day in the match. Although they just need to survive for around 50 over in Odi and 20 over’s in T20 with the required stamina and resilience, Test format requires them to stay on standby for the whole day with the same skill set.
#2 The Simplicity Factor!
Ever since the T20 cricket has arrived on the International arena, it has brought lots of entertainment, hype and lots of other fancy stuff on board alongside. In a matter of few years, cricket has become more about entertaining the fans with the “Add-ons” like Cheer girls, fancy kits, power plays, short boundaries and so on, instead of the cricket aspect. People have become prone to cricket as a short term affair instead of the plain simple sporting event it used to be years back. It’s not like T20 cricket has spoiled the Cricket as a whole, it has brought a wholesome “unwanted glamour” to the picture in the process.
On the other side, Test cricket has always been able to maintain the charm and attraction as “plain simple cricket” in whites ever since the sport has been established. None of the rules (except few) have been changed over the time and even the governing authorities and boards have ensured to maintain the beauty of this “ Five day affair”. You ask any cricket expert or cricket fan, they would tell you the difference in quality they experience between the shorter and longer format at the same time.
#3 You have to earn the victory here!
When it comes to Test cricket, a team really has to perform well over a period of five days in order to claim the victory and they have to overcome their opposition during the various sessions within a day for the next five days. Moreover, the beauty of this format comes in the ever changing aspect of the match over a period of five days and it really brings lot of drama and excitement for all the cricket fans around the world in the process.
On the other side, when it comes to T20 cricket or the ODI cricket, most of the matches have been won by the starting sessions and the team leading from the start emerges out to be victorious eventually. Also, whilst the test match provides a second opportunity to both the teams within the duration 5 days to improvise on their previous innings performances, there is no such option available for them in T20 or ODI format.
#4 Cricket at its Best!
Test cricket has always been appreciated and applauded by the players and the cricket experts for its uniqueness. One of the biggest point they put forward in the same regards is its simplicity and easy to understand aspect which can be understood by even a layman who is watching the game for the very forts time. It’s also been quoted that when a person who is watching the cricket for the very first time sneaks around the T20 cricket, he or she would find it identical to the game of Baseball in USA which is quite fast paced in nature.
Moreover, the rules and format of T20 cricket are quite flexible in order to accommodate the entire entertainment factor around. On the other side, test cricket is more about keeping the old spirit and essence of the cricket alive whilst bringing the best of the game to its fans and audience around.
#5 The Ever Changing Nature of the Game over 5 day’s Period
When it comes to Test cricket, the nature of the game switches around over a period of five days and you can’t expect same kind of situation and condition in each of the sessions around. The pitch might be giving some assistance to the pace bowlers in the first two days but it also might become helpful for the batters on third day and the spinners on the fifth day respectively. This ultimately brings every player on board to give their best with the changing circumstances around and prove their worth for the team in the process.
On the other side,T20 and ODI format doesn’t seems to be effected by the changing nature of the pitch or the weather condition to a big extent as the teams only have to cope up with the same over a short period of time.
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