Published: Oct 01, 2024, 05:11 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 01, 2024, 05:11 PM (IST)
Premier off-spinner R Ashwin agreed on Tuesday that having a limited number of Test centres helps the players, but fell short of approving the idea for India, adding that it is above his level to comment on that.
The debate on centres for Tests started flooding after Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium faced criticism for its poor drainage system, which resulted in two the loss of two days between India and Bangladesh.
“Does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does,” Ashwin said after India won against Bangladesh.
“Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don’t play us in Canberra. They don’t play us at any of the other venues where they won’t be very familiar with the conditions. So do England.”
“They have select Test centres and that’s where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here (in India)? That’s above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that,” said Ashwin.
The benefit of having a few Test centres is that the players get familiar with the conditions of the place and know what they would exactly require to do at a specific ground. Before stating that limited Test centres helps for sure, Ashwin said how cricket gets benefits by having different venues for the format.
“Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers attain by having so many Test centers are, you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country.”
“It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion amongst cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.”
“The second of it is there are certain requisite ingredients that go into making a Test match happen. Like, for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest on. These are no-brainers,” he said to make clear that there should be no compromises in the important facilities.
