Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri had made a comment saying 10-12 teams cannot be playing the longest format of the game, and in order to ensure that Test cricket remains competitive, only the top five-six teams should play against each other. Now, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has reacted to the suggestion, saying the existing system works fine and he explained his thinking behind the thought process.
Ashwin was speaking on his official YouTube channel and it was there where he spoke about the likes of Ireland and how the smaller countries need to be given chances to play the longest format.
“Recently Ravi Bhai has also said that Test cricket should be made as a format that only 3-4 (sic) nations play. But when 3-4 nations play, teams like Ireland won’t get won’t get the opportunity to play. You can ask me what’s the relation between Test cricket and T20 cricket. Only when you play Test cricket, your first-class structure will get better. And only when your first-class structure is good, people will get more opportunities. And players who do well in first-class cricket mould their game according to T20 cricket. That’s how cricket has shaped up,” Ashwin said.
“You can see that from the top three strong Test-playing nations, you can add it and make it 4-5 as well. India, England, and Australia, the first-class structure of these nations is extremely strong. In fact, a few are suggesting whether India’s first-class structure can be improved further because as we speak, Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar have gone on and done well in county cricket. Likewise, is there an opportunity for foreign players to come and play Ranji Trophy? These questions are also being raised,” he said.
