India Took Test Cricket Seriously Under Virat Kohli – Graeme Smith

Former South Africa team captain Graeme Smith credited Virat Kohli for creating India a powerhouse in Test cricket.

Test cricket will always be in the spotlight for perhaps a threat to it or the glorious stories it carries in the shelflife.

Test cricket, a format older for more than a century, has just been limited to full-time ICC members playing.

The challenge to conduct a Test match needs more money than the shorter formats and the broadcasters usually pay the same amount to the board as that of white-ball games.

 Big cricketing nations are only contributing to Test cricket at the moment: Graeme Smith

The advent of T20I cricket and the birth of franchise cricket spreading across many nations has somewhere been a deterrent for the oldest format to survive.

“With Test cricket, it’s just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment,” Smith said on ‘Sky Sports’ during day three of the first Test between South Africa and England.

India took Test cricket seriously under Virat Kohli: Graeme Smith

Former Indian captain Kohli led India in 68 Tests and won 40 of them, the best record for any Indian skipper.

Under the leadership of Kohli, India won their first-ever Test series in Australia when they defeated them 2-1 in the 2018/19 Border Gavaskar series.

The team’s approach of playing overseas Test matches transfigured as they developed a winning and fighting attitude under Kohli’s tenure as the captain of the team.

“I think it’s fantastic especially under Virat Kohli that India really took Test cricket seriously. They lead the way with that,” the former South Africa skipper said.

“But as long as we’ve got competitive teams, you’re not going to have 10, 11, 12, 13 or 14 competitive teams. You might only be down to five or six nations that play Test cricket at this level,” Smith added.

South Africa retained their top position in the current World Test championship after the first Test win against England at Lord’s.

Meanwhile, India are positioned in the fourth spot and their chances of qualifying may get challenging if Proteas win the ongoing three-match series.

Also Read: The Problem Is That We Only Think Of His 100s: Yuzvendra Chahal On Virat Kohli