How India, Australia and New Zealand combined to script a unique first in Test cricket
While India vs Bangladesh and Australia vs Pakistan was part of the World Test Championship, the ongoing series between England and New Zealand is not, owing to the scheduling.
The last 10 days have been quite interesting for Test cricket. There has been a lot of talk and excitement, but well, the results have not gone according to plan. While India smashed Bangladesh in the two-match Test series, Australia were too strong for Pakistan in Brisbane. And then, there was New Zealand who were relentless in their own conditions and beat England in the final session on the final day.
An interesting fact which popped up after all these results was that all the four victories in a span of 10 days were achieved by an innings - and this was a unique first as in the history of Test cricket, 4 innings victories have happened occurred inside 10 days. Back in 2002, there were 4 innings victories but it took place over 11 days.
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While India vs Bangladesh and Australia vs Pakistan was part of the World Test Championship, the ongoing series between England and New Zealand is not, owing to the scheduling.
This has propped up the question once again over the scheduling of the World Test Championship and this was also spoken about by Indian captain Virat Kohli.
“A more balanced format would be one series home, one away. We are playing very good cricket but we have played only two Tests away,” said Kohli after the win against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens.
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The matches over the last week have not been good adverts for Test cricket and now, the onus is on Bangladesh, Pakistan and England to get their act together and be a more competitive unit in the upcoming matches.
“The young attack has a lot of potential but you can’t buy experience. It’s never easy in a place like Australia,” Pakistan captain Azhar Ali said after the Brisbane Test. “They started off little shaky but they came back strongly the next day even though the Australian batsmen were really set. They came back strong and kept bowling in good areas after that. I believe if they manage to do that from the start of the innings, they’ll be a totally different attack after that.
