Virat Kohli Clarifies His Statement On Having Limited Test Venues

Team India skipper Virat Kohli’s recent comments on having limited Test venues after South Africa series was blown out of proportion. Many criticised the move as they took it as depriving a venue of Test matches. But, the talismanic run-scorer offered a clarification on the same.

Previously, Kohli had asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to identify five Test match centres in India in order to start a culture which will help nurture the longest format in India. Incidentally, England, Australia, or South Africa, all of which have traditional Test venues.

But in contrast, the BCCI allocates Test matches on a rotational policy. Virat Kohli urged the apex body to do away with this system and fix five venues for Tests. But his comments were blown out of proportion and many didn’t lend their support.

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Kohli said that his intentions were to take the traditional format of the game to its highest pedestal. He also wants to create a culture where the visiting team will have an idea where they will play all their Test matches.

“If you see the ratio – there is good crowd in Indore, but then there are other places where people did not turn up. So you cannot give matches to one stadium and not to the other grounds. When we go overseas, we know we will play in Sydney, MCG. Perth and Brisbane. So we know what to expect, the different types of crowds and these things only help foster a culture. Indore is a place where you will not find even one vacant seat for T20s, there might still be few empty seats for Tests, hence, this is a proposal which is not meant to take matches away from any venue. It is also not about criticising any city. This is all part of a vision which is aimed at taking Test cricket to a higher pedestal. We are discussing things based on these points,” Kohli told reporters.

Watch the video here:

https://www.facebook.com/Cricinfo/videos/413751972887465/

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Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council (ICC) along with the other associations from different countries are trying hard to keep Test cricket alive. They recently introduced the ICC World Test Championship to give meaning to the bilateral series. Virat Kohli said it was just one of the possibilities to save Test cricket.

“We are all trying to figure out ways and means to keep Test cricket vibrant and according to me, this was one of the options. Let’s see now how it is executed in the future,” Kohli concluded.