Kohli is just the tonic the current generation of young kids aspiring to make it big requires: Laxman

So much has been said about India’s 13-Test home-run, starting with the India vs New Zealand Test in Kanpur last week. Among the 13 venues that India will be playing until March next year, six grounds will make their Test debut – Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam, Dharamsala, Ranchi and Pune. 

And, former India batsman VVS Laxman said in Mumbai on Thursday that taking Test cricket to the new centres will play a major part in attracting fans in large number.

The 41-year-old stylish batsman-turned-commentator also said that day-night, pink-ball Tests are the way forward to bring in more spectators to watch the longer format of the game.

Delivering the annual Dilip Sardesai Memorial Lecture, Laxman, who followed his illustrious India team-mates Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble, among other India greats in giving the annual lecture, the eighth such lecture.

He said: “With New Zealand currently in India, and England, Bangladesh and Australia all set to travel here in the next six months, it is time to buckle up and partake of what I am sure will be unalloyed entertainment. The fact that we have 13 Tests at home, and that these will all be played at different venues including six grounds that will be making their Test debut, is a wonderful development that should play a huge part in driving fans to the ground in large numbers.”

As regards his support for day-night Tests, the Hyderabadi said: “I am also convinced that day-night Tests are the way forward. I must hasten to add that day-night first-class cricket is still work in progress. There are plenty of issues that need to be addressed, especially in India where cricket is a winter sport. How do we tackle the dew, for instance? How do we maintain the balance between bat and ball? How do we also ensure that we don’t compromise on our traditional strength, which is spin? These are all questions that need to be answered with conviction before we embrace day-night Test matches in totality, but we must do anything we can to bring people to the ground to watch Test matches without compromising on the basic fiber of the sport.”

A fan of India’s current Test captain Virat Kohli, Laxman said: “Virat has established himself as one, both for the present and for the future. His exploits in all formats of the game have been exceptional, and starting with four centuries on the Test tour of Australia in 2014-15, he has already reached a level that many people strive for years to attain. As impressive as his form has been in the 50-over and Twenty20 formats, I think his wonderful run in Test cricket, despite the additional responsibility of captaining the team following MS Dhoni’s retirement, is just the tonic the current generation of young kids aspiring to make it big requires.”

Kohli has often said that India’s focus has not really to be No. 1 Test team in the world. He, rather, focuses on the processes that makes India a winning team and the ranking looks after itself. However, Laxman was part of the Test team when India first tasted the No. 1 rank, in 2009.

He recalled the experience: “It was under MS that India first climbed to the No. 1 position in the ICC Test rankings. For all of us who were a part of that team, and for those of us who had been a part of that journey in the time leading up to that momentous December day at the CCI against Sri Lanka in 2009, scaling the peak will remain one of the highlights of our career. We didn’t become the No. 1 Test side in the world by accident. Plenty of thought and effort had gone into it. Collectively, we found a way through and around every challenge, obstacles and adversity, and the culmination of our progress to the top position was a vindication of not just our processes but also our conviction and our unbridled passion for the game in general, and for Indian cricket in particular.”

Laxman hoped that under the guidance of his former team-mate and current chief national coach Anil Kumble, Kohli and his young Indian team will aspire for the No. 1 rank in the longest format. “Having already had a couple of glimpses at the sight that the peak offers, this young team is hungry for more. Under Virat, India have won three consecutive series, two of them overseas, and have a wonderful platform from which to showcase their skills to the wider Indian populace against quality opposition in the next few months. I am certain they are all excited and will be up for the challenge, because after all, this is why you play sport at the highest level.”

(For full text of the lecture, visit http://dnai.in/dANz)