World Cup passes the ‘Test’

When the refurbished Wankhede Stadium was thrown open to the media late last month, a few scribes requested former India skipper Dilip Vengsarkar to recall his favourite knock at the venue.

“I must say it was the 100 I scored in a Test match against Clive Lloyd’s West Indians back in November 1983,” he said in one breath. For the record, the 54-year-old veteran of 116 Tests had also registered an unbeaten 164 against Allan Border-led Australia at the same venue in October 1986.

Given that Vengsarkar’s ‘home’ ground is scheduled to host the final of the World Cup, one journalist made it a point to ask the batting great about his favourite ODI knock. “Why talk about ODIs?” he shot back. “Test cricket is paramount. People don’t remember you for your exploits in 50-over cricket. Ultimately, it’s your performance in Test cricket that really counts,” he said. Point
taken, Sir.

Of the 150 players (15 in every squad) belonging to the 10 Test-playing nations (we’ve included Zimbabwe as well) taking part in the World Cup, as many as 122 have played the longest format of the game. And mind you, that’s a staggering 81%. “Are you serious?” a thrilled Vengsarkar asked when DNA informed him of this telling statistic.

“A player, who does well in Test cricket, will always do well in 50-over as well as 20-over cricket. That’s because his basics are strong. However, the same can’t be expected of a Twenty20 specialist. It will take a while before he finds his feet in the five-day format,” Vengsarkar, a former chief selector, reasoned.

He wasn’t done. “So basically, my point is justified. Selectors all over the world are packing their sides with players who have had the experience of playing Test cricket. I must say the ICC and all cricket boards must invest heavily in Test cricket. If you don’t give importance to Tests, the overall quality of cricket will surely suffer,”
he said.

Kiran More echoed his predecessor’s views. “Look at players like Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla. They are all unstoppable in all three formats of the game. People say ODIs and T20s are for the Pollards and Pathans but remember such players can come up with mind-boggling knocks only once in a while. You really can’t bank on them. They can’t do it on a consistent basis,” More said.

Six members of Zimbabwe’s 15-member squad haven’t worn the white flannels. That isn’t all that surprising as the African nation hasn’t played a Test match since late 2005. Barring Zimbabwe, every other nation has sent a squad with at least 11 — in some cases 14 — Test players to the World Cup.

While Yusuf Pathan, R Ashwin and Virat Kohli are the non-Test players in the Indian squad, the West Indies have 11 Test players with Kieron Pollard, Devendra Bishoo, Kirk Edwards and Devon Thomas being the ‘odd ones out’. Surprisingly, Suhrawadi Shuvo is the only player from the Bangladesh squad to have not played Tests. England, New Zealand and Pakistan have two ‘defaulters’ each, while world champions Australia have three in Callum Ferguson, David Hussey and John Hastings.

More, who kept wickets for India, made another pertinent point. “Teams which do well in Tests, more often than not, excel in the other formats too. Teams like Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and even India find themselves in the top half of the ICC’s rankings for Test as well as ODI teams. Success in Tests will bring you success in the other formats. The vice-versa effect doesn’t happen here,” he said.