If it was four days it wouldn't be a Test, says Anil Kumble 

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LG ICC Awards Press Conference

Anil Kumble, India’s highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, doesn’t entertain the idea of having 4-day Test matches. The 49-year-old is the chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee and he doesn’t endorse trimming down red-ball cricket to four days. 

Unlike Shashank Manohar, the ICC chairman, who had earlier said that Test cricket is dying, Kumble feels it is very much alive. "The sense of what I think about it is the players have given that. I mean, they don't want a four-day Test," Kumble opined during the event of The Hindu's annual thought conclave, The Huddle, which took place in Bengaluru on February 23.

"Five-day Test is what it is. And a Test it is because it is five days. If it was four days, it wouldn't be a Test. I am very clear on that," said Kumble, who scalped 619 wickets in 132 Test matches

Earlier, India skipper Virat Kohli had echoed the same thoughts. Kohli believes Test cricket shouldn't be tinkered to an extent that it loses its value. Kumble's opinion holds a lot of weightage as he chairs a prestigious position in the cricket committee. However, some of the full-member boards expect ICC to consider making 4-day Tests mandatory from the 2023 cycle of the World Test Championship.

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