NEW DELHI: Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir opined that the BCCI hasn’t done its job well enough to market Test cricket, despite India being the engine that drives the game.
Gambhir was speaking during the launch of the book ‘Eleven Gods and Billion Indians’ by cricket historian Boria Majumdar and he made his point in the presence of BCCI CEO Rahul Johri and COA chief Vinod Rai, PTI reports.
“I don’t think BCCI has marketed Test cricket as well as they have done with ODIs and T20s. I remember a Test match at Eden Gardens against West Indies (in 2011). India batting on the first day and there were 1,000 people.”
“Imagine Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman playing and there are only 1,000 people,” Gambhir said.
The Delhi veteran believes that cutting down on ODIs and T20s would be more feasible than taking Test cricket to Tier-2 cities.
“I don’t know but they have messed it somewhere. May be cut down on T20s and ODIs,” he added.
Gambhir also didn’t approve of the idea that playing white ball matches first would help prepare India for the 5-Test series this summer in England.
“Playing with red dukes in Test is completely different from playing white ball cricket. The three T20s and three ODIs isn’t an indicator of how well you are prepared for the Tests,” Gambhir noted.
