Impact of T20 on Test and ODI cricket

David Warner: How could you miss his name when you speak of T20′s impact on Test cricket!

Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar recently spoke about how Tests have produced more results in recent times compared to yesteryears. He stressed on the role of 20-20 cricket for this change. We see teams going after the target in the 4th innings of a Test match a lot more than how it originally was all these years.

Here is a mindboggling stat: in the entire history of Test cricket, only on 124 occasions a team has scored 300-plus in the 4th innings and 30 (one-fourth) out of those 124 have come after 2008, which is considered as the year T20 started carving out its own place.

Memorable Tests post the T20 era

One of the memorable run-chases of this era has to be the Chennai Test in December 2008, when India chased down 387 on the final day of the Test. And after a few days, South Africa managed to chase down 414 against Australia. That was the second-highest run-chase in the history of the game.

The most recent was one of the most followed run-chases where Pakistan chased down 302 against Sri Lanka with a run rate of 5. They had a maximum of 59 overs; in the pre T20 era, most teams would have opted to bat out those overs to be on the safer side and ensure they don’t lose the game.

Apart from the Pak-SL Test, we saw three more Tests in the last 3 months with memorable endings. South Africa almost created history by chasing 458 against India, falling short by 8 runs. India’s attempt to chase down 407 in the final innings against New Zealand was cut short by only 40 runs. And then South Africa battled hard for 134 overs to ensure a draw against Australia, but Ryan Harris finished the game when there were only 27 balls left.

This sort of a fearless approach is what T20 has brought to Test cricket. That doesn’t mean the required Test match skills have diminished. It’s been a nice mixture of both, and that’s what the fans want to see. Amidst these Tests, we also saw matches where India and South Africa batted for two days to save a Test match against New Zealand and Australia respectively, and last month we saw a brilliant comeback by Brendon Mccullum and BJ Watling to save a Test match which was almost lost.

Also, these days we see some Tests finishing inside four days. Ideally, we would like to see the game enter the fifth day, but why would the fan complain if he gets to watch a contest being fought evenly till the end? England won the first Ashes Test last July by 14 runs. And New Zealand beat Australia by 7 runs in 2011. These two matches went back and forth till the end. Zimbabwe shocking Pakistan to win by 24 runs last September needs to be added to this collection, as well.

These close finishes have certainly kept Test cricket right on top where it belongs, and T20 has contributed to it in a large way. Apart from the batting and bowling, fielding in Test cricket has had a huge impact. Some of the above mentioned matches turned on their head because of some outstanding catches and run-outs.

There is no doubt that T20 has had its effect on Test cricket, and it’s good for the format’s future as long it is producing result oriented Test matches. It remains to be seen, though, if it completely takes away the necessary Test match skills of a cricketer, which might either destroy or give a whole new perspective to the sport’s holiest format.