TOI Sports Desk
As the Indian team gets ready for the Test series against New Zealand beginning in Bengaluru on Wednesday, four of the team’s prominent names shared what playing the game’s traditional format means to them.
Coming into the series after a clean-sweep (2-0) against Bangladesh, India will take on the Kiwis in a three-Test series and hope to strengthen their position on top of the 2023-25 World Test Championship table.
M Chinnaswamy Stadium will host the opening Test that faces a serious threat of rain on the majority of its five days, but the hosts remain focused on the job and looking forward to another chance of wearing the Test whites for the country.
In build-up to the series opener, the BCCI’s media team asked Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin what Test cricket means to them as players and shared the video clip on social media.
“If I were to describe Test cricket in one word, it would be ‘respect’,” said Siraj, who has played 29 Tests so far and taken 78 wickets. “To bowl with a new ball in a Test match is a different feeling, difficult to describe that.”
Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who has played 12 Tests and pocketed 53 wickets, reckoned the format is both a chance and an examination for a player. “You need temperament and you should know how to maintain patience. I love the red ball because it allows you the chance to showcase your skills,” he said.
Yadav’s senior teammate and fellow spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who will be playing his 75th Test, felt the format is the true test of a cricketer’s skills and endurance over five days.
“For five days, you have to come and maintain the same energy, same intensity. You have to put in the same effort on all days,” said the 35-year-old veteran bowling all-rounder, who has taken 303 wickets and scored 3130 runs so far, including 4 hundreds and 21 fifties.
The video concluded with off-spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin sharing his thoughts about the format and how it has helped him evolve as a cricketer.
“The excitement still remains,” said the 38-year-old legend, who plays the dual role of team’s premier spinner and an all-rounder. “When you start a Test, the excitement of the match starting, what the pitch is going to offer, what is this particular ground going to offer, what will the opposition be playing like — all these things are constantly running in your head.”
With 527 wickets in 102 Tests, Ashwin is the team’s most experienced bowler at the moment. He has also decorated his Test career with 3423 runs, including six centuries and 14 fifties.
“Aspiring to play this format enables you to keep improving on a day-to-day basis. The fact that you are looking forward to something and getting better as a cricketer is why Test cricket is amazing,” he said, before adding a philosophical touch to the definition of Test cricket.
“Test cricket is nothing but life. It’s an extension of what your lifestyle is. If you have got a decent lifestyle, where it is disciplined and has a good routine, there is a better chance that you will be able to adapt and play Test cricket for a long time.”