Mumbai: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Anurag Thakur has advocated that Test cricket should be played at smaller venues in a bid to attract new audiences and to increase the viewership. The third test between India and New Zealand is being played at Indore, Madhya Pradesh and the response has been amazing with the crowd filling the stadium and cheering for the home team.
“We have taken an initiative to take Test matches to small cities. The decision to hold the same in Indore proved right. In future also, we will take it to such cities,” Thakur told PTI just before the commencement of the third and the final India-New Zealand Test Match at Holkar Stadium.
For the first time in the history of Indore, a Test is being played here. The BCCI chief also praised the efforts of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) in conducting the Test at Indore. “MPCA has done a wonderful job,” Thakur remarked.
“We are thankful to the people of Indore for showing so much of enthusiasm for the test match between India and New Zealand,” he said.
The current home season will see matches being played at Ranchi, Vizag, Rajkot, Dharamsala, Pune. BCCI deserves credit for taking the Test cricket to new venues to break the monopoly of big cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi.
Indian cricket team is playing splendid cricket and the fans in tier 2 cities would enjoy and appreciate the game’s oldest format. The game in general needs a boost to sustain itself in the era of slam bang cricket and smaller cities could offer that elusive lifeline to bring spectators back to the stadiums and cheer for their beloved cricketers.