Why do I love Test Cricket?

We are in the age where even the time measured in nanoseconds can be made more accurate. We are in the age of changing technology, where everything is getting faster than ever. Communication, travel and in fact everything now is much faster. In this fast age, there still exists a sport, which lasts for 5 days. And, at the end of 5 days, it is not guaranteed that we have a result to the game. And I must be crazy to be in love with this sport - Test Match Cricket. It is an irony that I might get frustrated if my pizza takes more than 30 minutes to come, but Test Cricket still intrigues me and still keeps on the edge of my seat.

The first tied Test Match

I have often pondered, what is so charismatic about Test Matches that makes me watch it with so much intrigue and interest. The reason I love test cricket so much is maybe due to the fact that it is probably a very unique sport. It is indeed true that at the outset it may seem as a boring dull sport. 11 men standing on the field for  7 hours a day over a period of five days might seem a boring prospect when you hear about the game for the first time. The more one starts knowing the game, opinions are sure to change. Once you understand the game fully, it is very unlikely that you do not fall in love with the game. As an avid follower of Test Match cricket, I can say that is one of the most beautiful games and it still finds a place in this fast moving world.

Test Cricket is probably the only sport where in between the game you get time to think and plan for next day. It allows time to regather your thoughts and change plans and come up with new strategies.  It almost stimulates a war, you play in the day and come back at dusk. In cricket, though, everyone is alive to play the next day. So many times a team has a torrid day on the field. Test Cricket gives you a chance to learn from your mistake and come back the next day with a completely different strategy and hope to win the day. In the same day, it incorporates breaks after sessions, which again may be really important to plan the game out.  It is a sport, which allows the players to think and re-think their strategies. It is a sport which always allows you to come back. It is a sport where strategies and skill converge. Both are essential entities of the game.

Test Cricket at West Indies

Test Cricket also stimulates life as such. One bad day on the field doesn't mean you lose the game. Like life, Test Cricket always gives the team a lot of time to think and crawl their way back into the game and probably even win the game. It allows time to learn from the mistakes made and tests whether one can rectify them. A great day on the field does not mean you can win the game. The same intensity has to be maintained for five consecutive days. Courage is one the most important elements of test match cricket. There are moments in the game when it is not the most skilful but the one who is most courageous who prevails. They say life is a marathon, not a sprint. So is test match cricket. It is not won or lost in a session.

Test Cricket is not won or lost in a session as Laxman as Dravid showed in the famous Kolkata Test

It is also a unique sport where weather conditions affect the game to a great extent. The captain has to change is plans with the changing weather. A cloudy day would call for the quicker bowlers to bowl. If the sun is out and he sees the pitch wearing he could get the spinners on. Or he could still persist with the seamers hoping for the ball to reverse. Overnight rain effects the run-scoring rate as the outfield might be wet. Like life, there are so many things which are way beyond control that effect the game. Teams need to fight all this to win a game. There are moments in the game, where one could be intimidated by sledging or by mind games and thus can be lured into playing the way he may not usually do. It tests the courage, the determination and the concentration levels to the highest degree.

It is only in test matches that we can get some beautiful moments in between the game. Say a day ends with both the teams having an even chance on the final day. Or a young batsman stranded on 99 at the end of the days play waiting to score his maiden hundred. The jitters one gets the night before, those sleepless nights filled with excitement and anticipation in between the game is the beauty which test matches provide. In no other sport can one get the moments like this while the game is in progress.

It is a sport which includes so much of variety. Playing on a turning track is entirely different from playing on a bouncy surface or a seaming track. Each country has its unique brand of the game. A game played in England is so different from one played in India.  If it is the swing in England it is the spin in India. If it the bounce in Australia, it is the spungy turn in Sri Lanka. In the West Indies, they have quick wickets in Barbados and batting paradise in Antigua. Pakistan is the paradise for Batsman while South Africa is bowler's paradise. There are so many facets to the same sport. The same sport looks so different when it is played in different parts of the world.  For instance, the Indians are invincible when they play at home, but when they play the same sport in England or Australia they look a completely different unit! In which other sport can one find so much of variety.

People who have played test cricket hail it the biggest test for a cricketer. Once you contemplate, you realise that winning a test match requires an entire package. It is definitely one of the most unique sports which brings to test way beyond the skill part.Once you have understood the game, there is no doubt you will fall in love with this great sport which reflects all the vicissitudes life. It is not a sport that will entertain you all the time, but a sport which will make you think at almost every moment. There is a small caveat, though, the game should be played between two really competitive teams. Otherwise, it will turn into nothing but a dull boring one sided game with no meaning.