India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin disagreed to Ravi Shastri’s comments about restricting Test cricket to only the top three-four countries.
Ashwin, who has one of the finest cricketing brains in the modern day game, explained why Shastri’s suggestion doesn’t really solve the purpose, rather, devoids teams like Ireland opportunities to develop a better First Class system.
“Recently Ravi bhai said Test cricket should be made as a format that only 3-4 nations play. But when 3-4 nations play, teams like Ireland won’t get won’t get the opportunity to play,” Ashwin said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“You can ask me what’s the relation between Test cricket and T20 cricket. Only when you play Test cricket, your first-class structure will get better. And only when your first-class structure is good, people will get more opportunities. And players who do well in first-class cricket mould their game according to T20 cricket. That’s how cricket has shaped up,” Ashwin added.
Ashwin cited the example of India as he explained the importance of having a strong First-Class system. Following the India system, Ashwin feels foreign countries need to make Test cricket more relevant.
“You can see that from the top three strong Test-playing nations. of course, you can make that four of five… India, England and Australia. The first-class structure of these nations is extremely strong. In fact, a few are suggesting whether India’s first-class structure can be improved further because as we speak, Navdeep Saini and Washington Sundar have gone on and done well in County cricket. Likewise, is there an opportunity for foreign players to come and play Ranji Trophy? These questions are also being raised,” he asserted.