Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly feels that the existence of T20 Cricket is solely dependent on the future of Test cricket and feels that day/night Test is a way to save to save Test cricket, but not the only way.
The ‘Prince of Kolkata’ is currently in Kanpur, where the BCCI has invited ex-captains of the Test team to be a part of India’s 500th Test match. He said that playing Test cricket was still the best form for him and also said that he was fortunate to have played more than 100 Tests for India.
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Speaking to The Telegraph, the current President of the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) admits that the 50-over format is going to be in serious threat of becoming redundant than Test cricket.
He said, “It's threatened, because of the pace at which the T20 format is growing. However, I feel that T20 will have value only if Test cricket survives. Eventually, the 50-over game will suffer, not so Test cricket.”
The southpaw played 113 Tests and 311 ODIs for India and is considered one of the greatest ODI batsmen of all time having scored more than 11000 runs in the 50-over format. In Tests, he was the most successful Indian captain before his record was broken by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Ganguly also had some advice to give to aspiring Test cricketers, “In modern-day cricket, you have to be good in the other formats too. So, work on your game to tick the boxes in all formats. Whatever one's views, the T20 game is becoming more and more dominant.”
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Pakistan is now the top-ranked Test team in the world, but Ganguly feels that there is not a single team in the world which is dominant at the present.
He says the West Indies’ team of the 70s and 80s and Steve Waugh’s team of early 2000s were the only two teams which dominated the world of Cricket and won in every country at their peak.
Kohli and co. have a good chance to climb up to the top of the rankings during the course of the upcoming India – New Zealand series. “India are the favourites and have a good chance of regaining the No.1 ranking in Test cricket. But, yes, Virat and (head coach) Anil Kumble would have to play key roles. One on the field, the other off it,” said the former Indian captain.
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