Border-Gavaskar Trophy: India vs Australia: Test cricket gets real love for a change | Cricket news

FREEZE FRAME: Jasprit Bumrah leads the appeal for Steve Smith's wicket during the first Test in Perth. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Questions remain about the viability of the format, but for now the five-day game is having a great run in Australia. The MCG match will only increase expectations
MELBOURNE: The 'G' is calm. The picturesque Yarra Park offers shaded paths and pleasant afternoon breezes. In the distance, Melbourne's famous trams roll by. They are the soul of this city's public transport and are not relics of a bygone era like elsewhere. People walk their dogs. An old lady is sitting on a bench reading a book. Even the usually frenzied cyclists take a minute to slow down and enjoy the atmosphere. In the distance you hear the sound of a bat hitting the ball.

A net session is active. The players are dressed in test match white. It is open to the public. The superstars are training. There are people watching, but there is no bickering, no rush to catch a glimpse. The pace is unhurried.
It's the calm before the storm. Come Thursday, for the first time in an Australian summer, the 90,000-capacity coliseum will Melbourne cricket ground will see a full house for a Boxing Day test. In this rare five-Test series it seemed like the crowd couldn't stop pouring in. Even in Brisbane, where rain marred the match every day, the Gabba achieved the highest total attendance for a non-Ashes Test. at 91,195.
Earlier, Adelaide broke the record for an India-Australia Test match when a total of 1,35,012 spectators turned up for the pink-ball Test. In Perth, the first two days broke visitor records.
It is fashionable to do away with the Test format, but if you talk to young fans in different venues, there is no complaining about the length of the format. Here, during the Border Gavaskar Trophyit's a good time to be a cricket traditionalist. But when you peel back the layers, concerns about the future linger. This is a big series between two top teams with a strong financial base and a rich tradition. But even here, in the commentary boxes, in the members' stands, among cricket's finest brains steeped in the action, there are murmurs of concern.

Why do only the top teams play so many Tests? Why are there so many unequal matches? Why is the format allowed to disappear in the poorer cricketing countries? Why is it so difficult to prepare a perfect Test match pitch these days? Why don't players play sessions anymore? Should there be four-day tests? And most importantly, will the format still be financially viable if India loses interest?
Over the course of this series, the questions have lingered, and some of Australia's best cricketing minds have weighed in on the issue. Greg Chappell, former India coach and former Australia captain, has taken the pragmatic view. He believes it is a blessing, and not a curse, that the big teams play the most Tests.
“It is important for India, South Africa, Australia and England to at least continue playing Test cricket otherwise the T20 format could take over completely,” he said. “The top players still enjoy playing Tests, but it's the step just below that that is vulnerable. These players can play 20-overs cricket, even 50-overs, but Tests are sometimes too difficult for them. We forget how difficult it is to actually playing Test cricket.”

Chappell believes the decline of the West Indies, not the birth of the One-Day Internationals, was a huge blow. “One of the tragedies is the loss to the West Indies. Sri Lanka has regressed because they are not producing enough fast bowlers. They just have to look at India. In the last fifteen years, India has mainly concentrated on producing pacers. Now they beat everyone everywhere,” he said. Former Australian heavyweight Adam Gilchrist said the attitude of modern batsmen has changed the natural rhythm of the format.
“It was a very entertaining period of Test cricket to watch. Is it very difficult for batsmen to be defensive these days? I have a different theory here. They have the ability to do it. At this level they also have the skills to do it. It's just a matter of mentality,” he said.
“Generally speaking, teams play a more attacking style of Test cricket. There were teams in previous eras who could do that too, but there has certainly been an effect of filtering from T20 cricket to long format cricket. The best players know still when they can go a little slower when they have more time.”
Gilchrist is convinced that four-day tests would work better. “Michael Vaughan (former England captain) said you might be able to have four-day tests. That will help with planning and workload. Then you can put it in the calendar, as a weekend thing. It's very difficult to track tests, where It's on, if it's on. Maybe there's something in that idea to invest in. I think we'll see more and more shortened tests just because of what we talked about, the offensive part.”

The legendary Allan Border, an Australian institution, has a different opinion. “Sometimes the fields dictate the game,” he said. “Four-day Tests would be a bit artificial. You don't get the 300s, the guys getting the big scores. Nobody wants boring draws, but with five days you really get time to sort things out. The wickets have to be there too not sure Pakistan has gone down along with the rest.They just need a good captain to put it all together like when Imran Khan had made a T20 team.
Ultimately, as Chappell said, “the administrators will go for the money.” This has been an interesting year for Test cricket in general with West Indies beating Australia in Brisbane, India winning in Cape Town, New Zealand whitewashing India, Bangladesh beating Pakistan in Pakistan and Pakistan beating England. Even India beating England at home was an enthralling series earlier this year.
The BCCI pumped money into the format to keep players interested. The World Test Championship race was intriguing. However, smaller teams continued to slip away due to the broadcasters' disinterest. It is unclear how the ICC's 'Test Match Fund' will work. Tests are no longer a level playing field.
This has been a hectic series so far, so perhaps the biggest question with the MCG Test is: how long will it last? With the huge demand for tickets, broadcasters would want a longer game, but as always with Tests there are no guarantees.
Fortunately, Test cricket appears to be in its natural habitat here in Australia for now. But like Melbourne's weather – blazing hot one moment and freezing cold the next – turbulence could be on its way.