'India took Test cricket seriously under Virat Kohli' - Graeme Smith sees only few teams contributing to purest format

Under the able leadership of Virat Kohli, India became a supreme nation in Test cricket. They dominated everywhere they played except in South Africa and most importantly, built a system that helped India create a strong pool of talent. Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith identified that and hailed India for taking Test cricket seriously. Speaking on Sky Sports, the 41-year-old said that at this rate only five or six nations will continue playing the purest format of the game. He doesn’t see the game growing if nothing changes in the future. “With Test cricket, it’s just iconic nations or the big cricketing nations that are contributing to Test cricket at the moment,” Smith said. The former captain added, “I think it’s fantastic especially under Virat Kohli that India took Test cricket seriously. They lead the way with that. But as long as we’ve got competitive teams, you’re not going to have 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14 competitive teams. You might only be down to five or six nations that play Test cricket at this level.” For four weeks of an entire year, the priority will be the league: Graeme Smith on CSA T20 League A lot of discussions were ongoing on social media about whether it was correct for South Africa to pull out of a three-match ODI series against Australia or not. Graeme Smith clarified that the nation will do anything as their primary focus will be on the CSA T20 League during that time of the year. “People also look at those three ODIs wrong. Yes, South Africa hasn’t handled ODI cricket as well and it should never be in this position. But for South Africa to be in Australia out of their key part of the summer financially is a huge stress for them. It’s like asking England not to play during your summer. The commitment that South African cricket made to go for the three Test matches is good for the game. It’s something that won’t happen often,” said Smith. Giving more clarity to the context, the 41-year-old added, “For four weeks of an entire year, the priority will be the league. I feel that if we hadn’t done this South African cricket could have probably lost eight to ten players to this UAE league.”

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'India took Test cricket seriously under Virat Kohli' - Graeme Smith sees only few teams contributing to purest format

Smith also threw light on the importance of CSA's T20 League.

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