CLOSE-IN: Attractive solutions need to get crowds back to watch Test matches (IANS Column)

It was so disheartening to see empty stands at the M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai watching the first Test match between India and Bangladesh. The BCCI and the local associations must find some innovative and attractive ways to get the crowds back. Test matches are the true form of the game. The intense battle between the batter and bowler and how one performs exemplifies the true worth of a player. Test cricket, as one says, is not for the weakhearted, and the players in the middle need that extra boost to get their adrenalin pumping.

The Chennai cricket crowd was considered in India to be the most knowledgeable, one who understood and appreciated the small nuances that the game of cricket produced. The 5 days of cricket in the days gone by had people in the city under a cloud of cricket fever and therefore the Chennai venue has had such wonderful matches in the past.

The first ever Test victory in 1952 against England was what began India’s journey into the cricketing world. The famous victory was what made the present Chennai ground into the venue where an Indian cricketer longed to play. One that had history etched into every corner of the ground.

Australia and England are the only two countries that have kept the tradition and popularity around Test cricket alive. The battle for the Ashes has never lost its shine over the years and is one that still attracts both the players and the spectators to regale in. What is as wonderful is the way in which both England and Australia have inserted the other Test playing countries into their fore and made matches between them as important and as interesting to watch.

Sri Lanka’s win at the Oval in September’24 recently after being 2-0 down, had spectators still very much thronging the stadium. The game of cricket is what one came to watch and the superb win, even though England lost, was greatly appreciated by one and all.

Marketing Test cricket through corporate and business entertainment is what makes watching cricket in England and Australia most interesting. The schedules and venues of a Test series is known well ahead. This makes scheduling of one’s time and the purchase of tickets so much easier. A good example is the way Australia have started highlighting the India Test series to be held at the end of this year.

The former and present Australian cricketers and the press are putting inserts, articles, records, and messages in making it into a true battle of the heavyweights, one to be recognized as the best. The digital media is also brewing it into a spicy encounter and marketing it into an event that makes it difficult to ignore. A full house is already on the cards when India play their 1st Test match in Perth and that is what the BCCI needs to emulate and do to brighten up Test cricket in India.

History is a very important factor in promoting Test cricket. The bigger well-known venues have a charm about them that needs the tradition to continue. Australia and England have their Test match venues well in place. A Test at the MCG in Melbourne on Boxing day or at Lords in the 3rd week of June leads to prospective viewers and cricket lovers making it into a family or even a business affair.

There is a buzz at the ground when the Test match is in progress. The events around it has cricketing activities during the breaks. A luncheon talk by a former cricketer and fun cricket for kids and youngsters, delicious food and drink options are all that culminate in an enjoyable experience. The live cricket being played in the middle becomes an occasion and not a tedious or tiring affair.

India at present are a formidable Test side and pretty unbeatable at home. This is an ideal scenario for the BCCI and the associations hosting the Test matches to exploit.

India and other countries in Asia are the hub and core of cricket followers around the world. Unfortunately, most of them at present seem to come out of the woodwork only during the limited overs matches.

In the end it is the spectators who make an occasion worthy of attending. If, they dwindle as one is seeing the trend that is surfacing around India, Test matches may just become a jot for the record books.

It is time for Indian cricket to put in all the effort and money to get genuine cricket lovers back to the stadiums. Free entry to school children and youngsters is nice; however, it needs more than that to truly appreciate what’s happening out in the centre.

Those were the golden days when cricket had 50 thousand spectators for 5 days inside the stadium and many thousands outside. Test cricket in India was flourishing and one hopes that it does so in the near future as well.

(Yajurvindra Singh is a former India cricketer. The views expressed are personal).

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