Melbourne, December 07: In a scathing attack on the Indian cricket board, Australian media Monday said the financially strong Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is doing every bit to kill Test cricket even as their team has taken the top spot in the traditional format.
“India rule Test arena while trying to kill it,” a Sydney based paper screamed.
“It is incredible that India, long seen as promoting the death of Test cricket by driving the proliferation of Twenty20 matches, has reached the sport’s pinnacle.”
India played only six Test matches this year, an away series against New Zealand in March followed by the just concluded three-Test series against Sri Lanka after a gap of seven months.
“If you cast an eye over the ICC’s (International Cricket Council) Future Tour Program (FTP) the answer many well be ‘no’. In a bizarre twist, India’s ascension to the number one spot coincides with a period where the team will largely be inactive in the Test arena for the next two years,” said Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
There is increasing pressure from the BCCI – which sells matches for a handsome profit to television networks – to scrap Tests for more ODIs and Twenty20s. The ICC has not stood up to India for years and clearly isn’t about to start by the looks of the FTP, which has been manipulated from its original plan to accommodate the BCCI’s thirst for short-format games.
—Agencies