Ravi Shastri: "Test cricket will have to reduce the number of teams that play"

Former team India head coach Ravi Shastri has opined that Test cricket should be limited to only the top six teams in the format. Shastri has also stated that the format should not be limited to only six teams but other sides need to qualify for being part of the top six.

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"You cannot have 12 teams or ten teams. You keep the top six, keep the quality, and respect quality over quantity. That's the only way you open a window for other cricket to be played.

Expand teams in one-day cricket and T20 cricket if you want the game to spread. But Test cricket will have to reduce the number of teams that play."

said Ravi Shastri

Over the years, several cricket experts and pundits have stated that Test cricket is dying and the format does not engage many fans as compared to white-ball games. As a result, the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced the World Test Championship (WTC) to keep the fans engaged in the longest format of the game.

"Whether it's India, Australia, or England you have to qualify for red-ball series if you want to be around to play Test match cricket. Then it doesn't matter if England doesn't go to the West Indies, or West Indies come to England. If they're in the top six, they play, but if they're not in the top six they don't play," he added.

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According to the current rankings, the top six ranked teams in Test format are Australia, India, South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Pakistan.

If Shastri's idea is applied several Test-playing nations such as West Indies, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka will not be able to play in the longest format of the game. The same thing will also happen with Afghanistan and Ireland. However, they are not even ranked as yet in the Test rankings.