&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Does Test cricket need two-tier system for World Test Championship?")
India made light work of the West Indies in the second Test match in Delhi as they got the better of the visitors by seven wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The win also saw India pocket the series 2-0, thereby strengthening their position in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings. However, the big question is whether Test cricket needs a two-tier promotion-relegation format, with the West Indies not standing tall against the elite sides.
Is there a difference in standards?
The Indian team on Tuesday (Oct 14) dismantled the West Indies to pocket the series, playing just eight days of cricket across two Test matches. When compared to India’s tour of England, Shubman Gill’s side was in action for all 25 days across the five Test matches. Compared to the West Indies series against Australia in July, competitive cricket was played on just 10 days for three Test matches.
The gulf of quality gap was clearly evident between the opponents, indicating England, Australia and India are in a different bracket.
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- India vs West Indies – 8 days played out of possible 10 (India win series 2-0)
- West Indies vs Australia – 10 days played out of possible 15 (Australia win series 3-0)
- India vs England – 25 days played out of possible 25 (Series drawn at 2-2)
While India, England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand continue to blossom and show their class. That is not the case for Pakistan, Bangladesh, the West Indies and Sri Lanka as their quality has been on a drop in recent years. Meaning matches between upper-tier teams are often competitive, while the same can’t be said when either of these teams drops down to play against lower-ranked opposition.
Will promotion-relation format help?
As things stand, head-to-head matches between India, England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand are competitive, while matches between Pakistan, Bangladesh, West Indies and Sri Lanka have also produced good games. Meaning these two sets of teams could be divided into different groups for the WTC cycle.
This could result in tight and more competitive matches in both upper and lower-tier sides. On the other hand, the team topping the lower tier could be promoted to the upper league while lower lower-ranked team in the upper league could be relegated to give more competitive edge for Test cricket.
