Cricket, also known as ‘The Gentleman’s Game' is one of the major games that is popular and widely followed by the masses all over the globe. When it comes to passion and fan following, countries like India, Australia, England, New Zealand are amongst the most passionate ones. However in the oldest and longest format of the game that is the ‘Test cricket’, there had been a significant decline in terms of popularity and audience engagement over the past few years. There have been a number of reasons leading to its downfall. The prime reason has been the notable growth in viewership of the shorter format, i.e. T20 cricket. The emergence of franchise cricket or domestic T20 leagues has not only grabbed the attention of a large audience but also the players from all parts of the world. It has indeed given the players a platform to showcase their talents and further be under a constant observation of selectors of national teams. Their performances in these leagues are monitored, based on which the players are even taken into consideration for playing in the national team. Also, the paychecks offered by these leagues are huge in amount which has also been a great attraction for players. The Indian premier league (IPL) is considered the biggest league among other cricket leagues, for which a huge number of players register themselves for auction in the hope of seizing the opportunity to play for the franchises and achieve the fate of recognition and growth in their career. Thus, these reasons justify the eagerness of players to participate in these tournaments. From the audience point of view, T20 cricket has been quite appealing to them in the sense that it offers them with so much entertainment within a span of 3-4 hours. From a wide range of unorthodox shots to a number of variations in bowling to pick up wickets, T20 cricket has revolutionized the whole game and has been successful in grabbing hold the attention of audience in large numbers. To sum up, T20 cricket has grown in popularity majorly due to its accessibility, fast-paced and entertaining nature.
Talking about Test cricket, it is usually played for a span of five days. Yes five days sound lengthy and people often find it boring because of the defensive nature of the format. As mentioned earlier about the downfall of test cricket, the cricket board i.e. International Cricket Council (ICC) had to take some initiatives for its revival in the long run. Thus, when test cricket was on the verge of complete decline with people slowly losing interest in it, ICC introduced The World Test Championship with its first edition starting from 1st August 2019. This championship is counted as an ICC event like the ODI and T20 World Cup. It involves the top nine test playing cricketing nations playing test series against one another for a span of two years. The top two teams with the highest winning percentage at the end qualify for the finals. Thus each match is of utmost importance for the teams as they battle it out against each other to secure a place in the final of the WTC. Hence, the commencement of the WTC gave teams an incentive or sort of a motivation to perform even better and fight for a win till the very end in test cricket, as every match they won contributed towards their better positioning in the league table. This led to generating more competition amongst the teams which produced some closely fought contested matches and thrilling nail biting finishes. It further helped in adding more meaning to test cricket and enthralling the audience, bringing out the struggling phase of test cricket to life.
When involved in a discussion about cricket, there’s one name that cannot be left behind in the modern era, and that is the former Indian captain Virat Kohli. The famous personality has contributed greatly towards the game of cricket and is still continuing to write a legacy of his own. Without any doubt, he has not only transformed Indian cricket but has also helped brought about a significant change in test cricket and its path to revival. His passion, dedication, determination and positive attitude towards the game has inculcated a winning mentality among the team members while inspiring other teams as well. His most important trait of commitment and positive aggression brings about a whole different environment and energy even in test cricket with the spectators engaging in the game even more. One such incident of his positive attitude and aggression came in a test series against England at Lord’s in 2021. It was the final day of the test match where England required 272 runs to win with 60 overs left for play. With just 60 overs left, it was quite a strenuous task for the visitors to win. It seemed that the test match was headed for a draw. Virat Kohli had a different mentality and had some other plans for the fate of the test match. When the England batters were out there for the chase, Kohli had small team talk where he made a statement saying “For 60 overs they should feel hell out there”. The Indian team from there on was well focused and determined on winning the test match. Virat celebrated every wicket with so much passion as if he was the bowler and had picked up the wicket. He kept the team motivated throughout and they fought till the very end, clinching the last wicket of England and registering a famous win at Lord’s.
Another famous test series win against arch rivals Australia is a classic example of how much test cricket has to offer to the world. The test series began with a horrifying defeat of India in the first test where India was bowled out in the second innings for a low score of just 36 runs on the board. Also some major players were out with injury and few were unavailable for the rest of the series. The team spirit would have been completely demolished and shattered but what followed thereafter was an unbelievable comeback by the Indian team. The team fought their way back in with youngsters taking the charge against an experienced Australian side. There were moments in the next test matches where India may have been losing the grip but the players absorbed the pressure well and brought out the best in themselves. With the help of the heroics of the players, the team went on to win the test series against Australia 2-1 including the famous win over Australia’s fortress of Gabba.
Earlier the teams played test cricket with somewhat a defensive approach mostly. In today’s era, the England cricket team has adopted a whole different mode of playing test cricket. Recently on 12th May, 2022, former New Zealand player Brendon Barrie McCullum joined as the head coach of the England’s test team. Since then, the whole scenario of test cricket has been different. Under McCullum, England cricket team headed by captain Ben stokes has adopted the technique of aggressive and attacking cricket in the red ball format. Usually the teams score at a run rate of 1-2 runs per over in test matches whereas this new generation English cricket team has constantly been scoring runs at a rate of 4-5 runs per over. They have developed a winning mentality and are not ready to settle even for a draw. This approach of never-say-die attitude and willingness to take courageous risks to win matches out of nowhere has made test cricket even more riveting.
To conclude, test cricket is not dead. It is on its path of revival and to gain popularity, reaching more and more audience. The initiatives taken by the board, the new techniques and advanced methods adopted by the teams and the mentality of players has together brought with it the amelioration of test cricket in terms of viewership, entertainment and popularity.