ICC World Test Championship: Are India turning the tournament into a farce?
Come Friday the 22nd, and the nation will witness a historic cricketing occasion - India's first pink-ball Test. The excitement in Kolkata, which will host the day-nighter at Eden Gardens, has already reached fever pitch. The clamor for tickets is reverberating around the city, and major landmarks are being lit up in pink, the color of the hour.
All of this masks the cricketing context that has engendered this frenzy. India are taking on Bangladesh in the second Test of a series that is part of the protracted ICC World Test Championship, the world body's latest move to popularize the oldest format.
On paper, the Test Championship looks exciting. Which cricket fan won't like the prospect of the elite nations of the world pitted against each other all across the globe over two years, for a chance to be at the grand final in Lord's?
However, if morning shows the day, then India's utter dominance of the proceedings so far may have already turned the unusually long competition into a foregone conclusion, at least till the final.
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Yawning gap
India are at 300 points right now, with 60 more looking easy pickings once the pink-ball Test gets underway. Only a very brave man will predict any result other than an India victory.
Their dominant wins against West Indies away and South Africa at home have meant that Virat Kohli's wards have well and truly established themselves as the team to beat in the tournament.
In fact, even with their toughest assignments awaiting them in the form of away tours to Australia and New Zealand and an epic home series against England, India just look too good to miss out on a spot in the final.
None of their challengers have looked as consistent or as complete as the Men in Blue, and are already (at least) 240 points adrift.
Questions about the format
There were questions asked regarding the format before the Championship commenced, and India's early domination have only brought them into sharper relief. With not every team playing each other and the series being of varying lengths, the ICC needs to contemplate whether the road to the final is actually uniform and equal for each and every team.
Ideally, home-and-away ties between all the teams of a uniform length should be the format, and away wins should also be given more weight.
Also, a protracted round robin stage such as this should not culminate in a one-off final, as all the good work done by a team over two years might be undone in one game.
Competition required
Test cricket as a competitive spectacle might also have been put under a question mark after recent developments. India crushing South Africa in no-contests augurs well for the team, but not for the health of the game.
The rest of the teams need to compete better to make this long-winding Championship worth its salt. Without that, the tournament runs the risk of turning into a farce.