Five-day tradition of Test cricket can’t be toyed with, says BCCI official
The BCCI has confirmed that will stand with India skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri in their defence of five-day Tests as they believe the tradition cannot be toyed with. However, the Indian board is keen to discuss the matters with the Australian, English, and South African boards.
With the ICC cricket committee set to discuss the idea of four-day Test matches during their next meeting in March, the BCCI has put up its hand in defiance. While Kohli believes that it is not fair to the purest form of the game to be altered for commercialization purposes, Shastri called the idea nonsensical.
Meanwhile, a BCCI official has said that while the board wants to discuss the matter with Cricket Australia around the time of the BCCI awards on January 12 in Mumbai and will also extend the talks to English and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket South Africa (CSA).
"See, it is only right that you discuss these matters and we will do the same with CA, ECB and Cricket South Africa. But as things stand now, we are on the same platform as our skipper and coach and don't see much sense in cutting Test cricket to four days from the conventional five,” the official told IANS.
“In fact, it is not just our captain or coach, you have also heard the likes of Joe Root (English captain) and Faf du Plessis (South Africa skipper) make their opinions clear on the matter. It might be an option for the lower-ranked teams, but not when two big teams clash. Tradition can't be toyed with," the official added.