• Source:JND
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India vs Bangladesh 2nd Test: India's star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared his opinion on the possibility of having a limited number of Test centres, saying it helps the players but fell short of endorsing the idea for India, saying it was above his pay grade to comment on that.

The debate on Test centres was reignited after Kanpur's Green Park stadium came under criticism for a poor drainage system, resulting in a loss of a full two days in the second Test between India and Bangladesh.

However, India managed to capitalise on the remaining two days to register a seven-wicket victory to complete a 2-0 whitewash.

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Star batter Virat Kohli had suggested a few years ago that India should have five major Test centres like Australia and England.

"Does it help a player if you have just a few Test centres? Most certainly it does," Ashwin said after India trounced Bangladesh by seven wickets here on Tuesday.

"Because when we go to Australia, they play India only at five Test centres. They don't play us in Canberra. They don't play us at any of the other venues where they won't be very familiar with the conditions. So do England."

"They have select Test centres and that's where they play. Some of those are only white-ball centres. Can we do it here (in India)? That's above my pay grade. I cannot comment on that," the player of the series said.

The advantage of playing at the only select Test centres is that the players are familiar with the conditions and know what exactly they would be required for the challenges they would be up against at a specific venue.

While Australia have a tradition of playing in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, England have London, Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham and Edgbaston as their major Test centres.

Before saying that having limited Test centres indeed helps, Ashwin elaborated on how cricket benefits by having various venues for the traditional format.

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"Firstly, what are the benefits that Indian cricketers attain by having so many Test centres, you have got cricketers who come and play Test cricket from every nook and corner of this country.

"It is a huge country and it has triggered that sort of urgency and that sort of passion amongst cricketers to be able to come and play for this country. That is a big positive.

"The second of it is there are certain requisite ingredients that go into making a Test match happen. Like, for the weather and the kind of drainage that we need to be able to invest in. These are no-brainers," he said, making it clear that there should not be any compromise on required facilities.