Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Aswhinhas backed Virat Kohli’s vision of permanent venues for the Test matches in India. Recently, India defeated West Indies by seven wickets in the second Test in Delhi
to win the two-match home Test series by 2-0. However, the pitch of the Arun Jaitley Stadium wasn’t favourable for the bowlers as India scored more than 500 runs in the first innings, while West Indies went on to post 390 runs in the second innings despite losing nine wickets for 311 runs.
After the end of the second Test, R. Ashwin put up an old demand of having five Test venues in India, which has also been requested by other former including the former Test captain Virat Kohli. "We've been discussing this for a long time now, and in my opinion we should have five Test centres, period. I mean, I agree [with] state associations and rotation and giving games and all that, that is fine for T20 and one-day cricket, but Test cricket, teams coming to India should know, 'we're going to play at these five centres, these are the pitches we're going to expect, these are the kind of people that will come to watch, crowds,” Kohli said back in 2019 during the home Test series against South Africa.
Test centres is not about crowds alone: R. Ashwin
Now, six years after Virat Kohli’s statement, R. Ashwin came up with a similar demand and advised the BCCI to allot the five Test centres in India. In his YouTube show, Ash ki Baat, the former cricketer said that the home side should take full advantage of the conditions and prepare the pitches accordingly.
“Test centres is not about crowds alone. It is also about familiarity of conditions. If we are playing a Test in Guwahati or Ranchi, I am not against these venues as a possibility. But the problem in India is every surface has a different identity. There is literally no bounce in the Eastern part of the country. It becomes a very ordinary Test match pitch then. Make sure whichever Test centre you decide has the best pitches. Some venues are better than others only because the pitches are better and the team is used to conditions. That is home advantage. Otherwise the only point is you are playing within that Indian map as home, but is not home,” Ashwin said.
“Eden Gardens, Guwahati – playing against South Africa there, should there be standard Test centres? Virat said years ago they must be fixed. I personally think it’s about time, why did we make Test centres? So more cricketers could emerge, and their associations would get more funding. But Guwahati as a Test match is not a home game for either team, and I don’t think anyone in the Indian team has played a first-class game in Guwahati,” he further added.
