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AB de Villiers (Source: ABD YouTube channel)
Former legendary Proteas batter and former skipper, AB de Villiers didn’t look satisfied with the recently concluded two-match Test series between South Africa and India, which eventually ended in a draw with a series scoreline of 1-1. The hosts South Africa won the first Test in Centurion by a margin of an innings and 32 runs just on the third day of the game.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma’s men clinched a victory in the second Test at the Newlands in Cape Town by a margin of 7 wickets only on the second day of the match, a day less than the duration of the first Test. It also marked the end of a two-match Test series in the time which was even less than for one Test match.
The same didn’t go down well with the former Proteas skipper De Villiers and he slammed the thought process behind organizing a two-match Test series and not having a third Test to decide the eventual winner.
"I am not happy that there is not a third Test. You have to blame the T20 cricket going around the world for that. I do not know whom to blame, but I sense something is wrong. If you want to see all the teams compete and see who is the best Test team in the world, something has to change,” said AB de Villiers in a video on his YouTube channel.
"It has sent shockwaves around the cricketing world." - AB de Villiers on concerns for Test Cricket
Furthermore, the 39-year-old also expressed his concern over the position of the Test format in world cricket. He blamed the increasing culture and increasing focus on the T20 cricket, which is also endangering the ODI format.
“It has sent shockwaves around the cricketing world and has made it clear that Test cricket is under pressure, for that matter even ODI cricket and the whole system is turning around T20 cricket. The players, the board and coaches will turn towards where there is more money. You cannot blame them for thinking about their future with their family," said De Villiers.
Apart from this, he also questioned the surface of the Newlands in Cape Town, where the second Test between South Africa and India ended just within less than two days and it was also recorded as the shortest Test ever played in the history of the game.
"It (Cape Town) was a pretty stock-standard wicket, in my opinion. I remember jumping around there on Day 1. If you can just get through the first session on Day 1, it gets easier. If you see the players playing their shots and not hanging around, they were doing well. I remember Ben Stokes scoring a double-hundred there. I scored some hundreds there,” he concluded.