Though i am a fan of the Indian cricket team, I have to say that I really hate to see cricket matches especially test matches end without a result because of bad weather conditions. There should be a method to at least credit the team which has played well so that it can help improve its chance of winning a series if all the matches end in a draw.
In today’s match between India and England at Lords, England clearly outplayed the Indian team with the famed Indian batting line up of Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman with no one being able to put up a decent score in the two innings. Rain gods have favoured the Indian team this time (it hurts more when India is denied a win because of bad weather conditions) from losing the match with only a wicket left.
There should be some kind of rule like the Duckworth Lewis method used in ODIs to decide the fate of matches which are drawn because of bad weather conditions. The method should at least allow the team which has played well to get a credit (probably by awarding points based on some parameters customised to suit test cricket) which can help it clinch the series if all the matches are drawn.
With the one day version of the cricket already becoming competitive with more stringent rules, its high time that even test cricket gets some new rules. This would not only increase the competition in the game but would add more pressure for teams to play win and not drag the match with defensive tactics. The new rules could help by:
- Awarding credits to the team which has played well based on its performance like number of runs scored, wickets lost, run rate etc
- Crediting the team which has played well over the other team
- Giving the audience more decisive results based on the teams performance
- Providing teams and bodies that manage the teams a better yardstick to measure their performance
- Allowing the teams to win the series in case of drawn matches
- Boosting the teams rating in the ICC Test Championship provided ICC considers the credits to award points to the teams
Let me know your thoughts on this.
Aala Santhosh Reddy 