How cricket's original format is alive and kicking like never before

In some ways, Virat Kohli's sheer box-office value and presence on the field is what's driving Test cricket

There’s a chance many of you did not see it. And most of you will perhaps never see something like it again. Let’s face it: the South Africa-Sri Lanka cricket engagement is not an endearing one. It reeks of the much-maligned one-sidedness that for long has robbed Test cricket of its razor-sharp competitive edge — a group of neophytes from the sub-continent, unaccustomed to the hazards of the moving, searing, red ball, thrown to the wolves. 

Going by that presumption, Kusal Perera should never have become a candidate for the greatest fourth-innings knock ever played. That was supposed to be a Brian Lara patent. Twenty years ago on a sun-kissed Barbados afternoon, the Trinidadian prince scored 153 of the most sublime counter-attacking runs in cricket history, expertly thwarting McGrath, Warne, et al, with a flair and swagger that was unmistakably Lara-esque. 

It takes a lot to overshadow Lara, and to convince old-time cricket romanticists that an epochal innings from a yesteryear icon is indeed surpassable. Perera’s knock in Durban — in a weird coincidence, 153 not out as well — managed to achieve precisely that. Intrepid, dogged and every bit memorable, it was a once-in-a-lifetime performance that helped Sri Lanka chase down an improbable 304 against a mighty bowling attack that comprised Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Duanne Olivier. 

This was a victory on many fronts: a personal one for one-time discard Perera, a united one for a beleaguered Sri Lanka, and perhaps most important of all, a collective one for Test cricket in general. What better antidote for a struggling format than an underdog team upsetting a far superior one in the most thrilling circumstances? 

It’s been a crazy few months for cricket’s longest — and original — format. In January, India beat Australia away from home for the first time — not entirely unexpected given the feebleness of the current Aussie team, but a feat nonetheless remarkable when you consider India’s own miserable record overseas. Weeks prior to the miracle in Durban, eighth-ranked West Indies downed second-ranked England in another performance for the ages; Kemar Roach sending stumps flying to all parts of the Kensington Oval in a brutal exhibition of uninhibited, adrenaline-filled fast bowling. But perhaps the most impressive was Sri Lanka and the West Indies both building on these special victories and eventually registering emphatic series wins. 

It’s no secret that Test cricket has been battling to stay afloat for a while now. The advent of T20 cricket has meant that Tests have been subject to dwindling TV audiences as well as empty stadiums. Not to mention how young players, smitten by the lure of lucrative T20 domestic contracts, are least interested in forging a career in the gruelling Test match arena. None of that, of course, is new. The luminaries running the sport well understand that the format has a fight on its hands and it’s still a while before it catches up with the popularity of its youngest cousin. 

Kusal Perera after his match-winning knock against South Africa in Durban. Courtesy SLC

What is new, however, is the fact that with recent results, Test cricket may have turned a corner, ushering in a more competitive phase that promises to compel viewers to look at it not only as a tedious five-day affair but as a unique model of absorbing entertainment. Despite the unexpected loss in Durban, South African skipper Faf du Plessis’s assessment was telling: “It should show people, whether it's three or four or five days, that it is still the No 1 format if you see games of cricket like this.”

That’s partly because matches delivering results are at an all-time high. According to data compiled by ESPNcricinfo, 80 per cent of the matches played this decade have produced results, the best return in the last 70 years. In 10 games played this year, nine have seen outright wins. The only aberration, the Sydney Test between Australia and India, should have most certainly resulted in a convincing win for the visitors had the rain gods not intervened. 

Ironically, the result-oriented nature of Test matches has been made possible by the whirlwind character of the shorter formats. Batsmen brought up in the T20 age evidently lack the technique, application or temperament to prevail in the challenging environs of five-day cricket, leading to significantly shorter Test matches. Only a few all-format mavericks — Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Joe Root — and near-extinct Test specialists — only Cheteshwar Pujara springs to mind — are exceptions to this rule. Similarly, bowlers, used to churning out just the four overs, lack the skill and patience to outwit batsmen on docile pitches. 

Another thing that has made viewing all the more compelling in the past few months is sides winning overseas. In the last decade, almost all teams have increasingly acquired the hackneyed reputation of being “tigers at home and lambs abroad”. India may have been singled out in this respect, but the truth is that all teams have made for feckless tourists in the recent past, losing routinely and that too rather embarrassingly. 

India’s win in Australia, New Zealand overcoming Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates (the latter’s adopted home), England sweeping Sri Lanka away, and South Africa getting eviscerated by Sri Lanka, have all shattered that equilibrium. Add to that the Windies’ renaissance, and you might just get an “anyone-beats-anyone” scenario that can do Test cricket some good. India, for instance, were soundly beaten in England despite being the No 1 side in the world. England, in return, got humbled in the Caribbean of all places. Having no dominant side, unlike the West Indies of the early 1990s, or the Aussies of the new millennium, can actually have a catalytic effect.

And while it may not have a dominant team, what modern Test cricket does have is a dominant player: Kohli. The Indian captain might already have established himself as the greatest limited-overs player of all time, but it is in Test cricket that Kohli has repeatedly reiterated his desire to excel and make a real name for himself. In some ways, his sheer box-office value and presence on the field, where every ball is an event and no challenge is unconquerable, is what’s driving Test cricket. Kohli, through his magnetism alone, has made Test cricket likeable again. His desperation to leave behind an unmatched legacy — both as batsman and captain — is the kind of tonic Test cricket has been yearning for.

Virat Kohli

That is why when International Cricket Council Chairman Shashank Manohar last week spoke about how “Test cricket is dying”, he was probably alluding to the absence of heaving crowds and not so much bemoaning the quality of what’s on show. Modern lifestyles have ensured that attracting crowds will forever be a problem for Test cricket, but the broadcasters still like it — it easily fills slots in the era of 24x7 sports coverage — and the sport continues to be popular in the so-called “Big Three” nations of India, Australia and England. And more than the unceasing fours and sixes, it is knocks like Perera’s and spells like Roach’s that cricket fans are likely to remember their experience of watching the sport by. We, too, must savour it while we can.