‘Torch-bearers of Test cricket’ India-Oz should play minimum four-Test series: Bhogle

MOHALI - Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle insists that India and Australia are the torch-bearers of Test cricket due to which the premium contest should have a minimum of four Tests.

A two-Test series is currently being played between India and Australia in India.

“India are the No. 1 team at the moment, Australia’s No. 4 slot has to be an aberration. Between them they have produced some of the most stirring contests of the last decade. And now, two years after they last looked each other in the eye, they meet for a mere quickie,” Bhogle wrote in an article for the Daily Times.

“Would Nadal and Federer play over two sets? Tiger Woods play seven holes? Would Ali and Foreman have fought over six rounds? Of course it could have been worse, couldn’t it?”

“They might not have played Tests at all, they might have dragged themselves around the country playing seven one- day games. And so there is a feeling that we should be happy we are at least getting this much,” he added.

Bhogle also believes that cricket-lovers would not be able to draw too many conclusions from the current affair.

“Longer series are fun because they test different factors: can teams fight back, for example, or can they overcome injuries or poor form? When teams look each other in the eye, you want to see who blinks first,” Bhogle said.

“Two maestros, rich in experience, but growing in years, will also lock horns. Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting, the most prolific, and among the greatest, number threes in the history of the game may not face off against each other again, because the next series is 14 months away,” he added. (ANI)