Mark Taylor Applauds Virat Kohli And Ravi Shastri For Promoting Test Cricket

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor heaped praise over Indian skipper Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri for promoting Test cricket in India.

India reached new heights in Test cricket under Kohli-Shastri pair of leadership as they defeated Australia twice in their own backyard. They were almost close to winning a Test series in England after 14 years.

Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli (have) been great supporters and promoters of Test cricket: Mark Taylor

Kohli’s relationship with head coach Shastri is very well known in the public domain and Taylor feels that the duo has done some commendable job to promote Test cricket in India.

“Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli (have) been great supporters and promoters of Test cricket in recent times,” Taylor told World Wide of Sports. 

“I think Virat has been excellent in that regard, really wanting to play Test cricket, prioritising the game. But the worry will be how long it continues for,” he added.

People have to look after the health of the game: Mark Taylor

India and England couldn’t come to a conclusion as the Manchester Test was cancelled after the COVID-19 scare broke out in the Indian camp.

India’s second physiotherapist Yogesh Parmar tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve of the matchday. This made Indian players a bit sceptical in going ahead with the game and the players wrote a letter to the BCCI to express their concerns about playing the match.

After the match was called off, fans criticised Indian players for preferring IPL over Test match but Mark Taylor feels that the health of players should be considered.

“When players make a stance against that we all understand that, we do, and we understand that health comes first. But people have to look after the health of the game,” Taylor said. 

“It puts pressure on the game of Test cricket in particular, and then you’ve got a game of T20, a domestic series coming up that all those players want to play.

“We’ve got to be careful, the players have to be careful that they send a consistent message. If similar things happened in the IPL I would like to see similar action taken by the players,” he added. 

Indian players have left United Kingdom to join their respective IPL teams in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Also Read: Ashes 2021/22: Mark Taylor Backs Steve Smith To Lead Australia In Ashes If Tim Paine Remains Unavailable