"Home Advantage..."- Ravichandran Ashwin echoes Virat Kohli's old idea of five Test centers in India
The former Indian spin all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, has supported Virat Kohli's old idea of five permanent Test centers in India to use the best pitches for the Test matches rather than just filing the stadium.
The former Indian spin all-rounder, Ravichandran Ashwin, has called for the introduction of five Test centers in India to help players become familiar with the conditions, apart from only filling up the stadiums. He reckoned that playing on the best pitches had to be a non-negotiable in selecting the Test venues.
In 2019, the former captain, Virat Kohli, brought the idea for the first time, where he addressed that touring teams should know about the pitches and spectators before coming to India. Ashwin’s comment has come after India’s captain, Shubman Gill, and head coach, Gautam Gambhir, displayed their frustration with the dead Delhi surface.
“Test centers are not about crowds alone. It is also about the 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 that 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.” Ashwin expressed in a video on his YouTube channel.
Ravichandran Ashwin calls for five permanent Test centers in India
It has been a tradition in Australia and England where they play Test matches in their summer in six to seven venues. A few of them, including MCG, SCG, Adelaide, Lord’s, Oval, Edgbaston, are guaranteed to get a red-ball game. South Africa will face India in November's Test series in Kolkata and Guwahati, which will host its first red-ball clash in the game.
“Eden Gardens, Guwahati – playing against South Africa there, should there be standard Test centers? Virat said years ago that they must be fixed. I personally think it’s about time. Why did we make Test centers? 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.” The veteran of 106 Tests, Ashwin, addressed.
Kohli suggested the same idea six years ago during a press conference. “We’ve been discussing this for a long time now, and in my opinion, we should have five Test centers, 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 centers.”
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