Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra expressed his disappointment with India playing only a 2-match Test series against South Africa. Team India will kick off the last leg of their South Africa tour with a Boxing Day Test match at SuperSport Park, Centurion.
Team India are coming off into the Test series after winning the ODI series 2-1 under KL Rahul’s captaincy and levelling the T20I series 1-1 under Suryakumar Yadav’s captaincy.
The Rohit Sharma-led Test team, in the meantime, will look to end their wait to win their maiden Test series in South Africa. It will be the final frontier for the Indian team, who conquered England, Australia and New Zealand.
“You play five matches against Australia, you play five against England. South Africa are the third major side. But we are doing South Africa a disservice. We are doing a disservice to Test cricket by playing a two-match series. If you are saying Test cricket is supreme, then give it the status it deserves,” Chopra said.
With only two Tests to be played in the series, whichever team will win the 1st Test will take an unassailable lead in the series. However, the rain threat looms large in Centurion, with the weather not looking good for the first two days of the Test match.
In its 8 tours to the Rainbow Nation, India are still looking to register a Test series win. South Africa has been a historically challenging touring nation for the Indian side. However, this time the team will be playing only two Test matches. Chopra, while speaking on Jio Cinema, reckoned playing only two Test matches as a disservice to Test cricket. He also pointed out that Test cricket needs to be given the status that it deserves, and two test matches don’t do justice to Test cricket’s status.
“Anything less than a three-match series is a disservice to Test cricket. All the talk about protecting Test cricket and being its guardian does not mean we are doing what’s necessary. We need to walk the talk. We are playing a two-Test series because if teams play a single match, then it can’t be called a series. It has to be a minimum of two matches. So, it’s just like fulfilling that minimum commitment and leaving,” Chopra said.
The former India cricketer also mentioned that amongst the SENA countries, since India play 5 matches each with every country, South Africa should not be any different. He called it a disservice to the Proteas as well. Chopra had also earlier expressed disappointment with India playing mere 2 matches against South Africa in the new World Test Championship cycle for 2023-2025.
