Bangalore: India are still not comfortable with the idea of playing day-night (D/N) Tests, but former England captain Kevin Pietersen made a strong statement Tuesday when he said that pink ball matches is the only way forward to save the game’s traditional format.
The first foreign cricketer to address the prestigious MAK Pataudi Memorial Lecture, Pietersen couldn’t have possibly chosen a more appropriate platform to make a case for D/N cricket, especially at a time when T20 is threatening to usurp all other formats.
“If we wish cricketers to commit to five-day cricket we have to pay them. So how do we pay them? Simply by throwing the same commercial nouse and innovation at the Test game. Five days of action. They provide so many opportunities,” KP, as he is popularly known, told an august gathering.
“Day-night games have demonstrated the enormous leaps that are possible. The IPL doesn’t play its biggest fixtures when many of its staunchest, wealthiest fans are at work. Neither should Test cricket,” Pietersen added.
Pietersen stated that marketing Test cricket is the need of the hour for the custodians of the game. “It will only be by pushing the marketing dial to a maximum that we will see if Test has the true potential. Let’s make every game count. Push the profile of the World Test Championships. Develop marketing opportunities. Offer cheaper seats in the ground to provide a better spectacle for TV viewers,” he asserted.
“We need to get them (fans) back through the turnstiles. It’s better for the players the sponsors and television. Let’s throw equal marketing clout behind the Test game before we succumb to the lazy assumption that 20-20 rules.”
Pietersen himself has plied his trade across the globe in various T20 leagues but the Englishman remains a staunch supporter of the five-day format.
“In my humble opinion a hard fought five-day Test match remains the greatest all-round challenge in modern day sport, a challenge as mentally demanding as it is physical,” KP pointed out.
Star attraction
Bangalore: India captain Virat Kohli was the star attraction at the BCCI annual awards function here Tuesday as he received the prestigious Polly Umrigar Trophy (Cricketer of the Year) award for two consecutive seasons. The function was also attended by the Afghanistan national team. It was an evening in which the past and the current generation of Indian cricketers came together under one roof. Anshuman Gaekwad and Sudha Shah received the CK Nayudu ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award.