Ravi Shastri Proposes Innovative Solution to Ensure Test Cricket’s Survival

Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri has proposed an ingenuitive idea to ensure the long-time survival of test cricket. The commentator made his vision known after the record-breaking fourth Test between India and Australia, which attracted an incredible 373,691 spectators to the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) over five exhilarating days.

Ravi Shastri’s plan calls for a two-tier structure in Test cricket, with promotion and relegation between the top teams, to safeguard the future of the format.

The fourth Test between India and Australia has set a new benchmark for attendance, surpassing the previous record of 350,534 set during the 1936-37 Ashes series.

In the wake of the historic Melbourne Test, Shastri, now a commentator, emphasized the importance of the format, calling it “the toughest and best format” of the game. He declared that this match served as the ultimate advertisement for Test cricket, illustrating its enduring appeal even in the age of shorter formats.

Shastri reiterated his long-standing belief that for Test cricket to thrive, the best teams must face each other more frequently.

“To break crowd records that have stood for nearly a century is a testament to the fact that when the best teams play, the toughest and best format of the game is still alive and thriving,” Shastri wrote in a column for The Australian newspaper. “It was also a clear message to the International Cricket Council (ICC) that the top teams should be playing each other more often.”

The 62-year-old believes that the solution to the growing concerns over Test cricket’s future lies in a two-tier system. He suggested that the top 6-8 teams should be in the upper tier, with a system of promotion and relegation ensuring that the competition remains fierce and exciting. According to Shastri, such a structure would guarantee that only the strongest teams are consistently playing against each other, thus maintaining interest and drawing larger crowds.

“To have teams consistently playing each other at the highest level, we need a proper structure,” Shastri said. “You will not get these kinds of crowds if you don’t have two competitive teams playing.”

The idea of a two-tier system has been floated by the ICC for years, but so far, plans have failed to gain traction. A proposal for a de facto premier league featuring the top seven teams was discussed by the governing body back in 2016, but it was scrapped following a backlash, particularly from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).