The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : T20 poses threat to Tests: Ponting

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T20 poses threat to Tests: Ponting

New Delhi: The rising popularity of the Twenty20 format leaves Test cricket not in the pink of health, reckons Australia captain Ricky Ponting.

Ponting said he did not have any problem if Twenty20 resulted in fewer One-day Internationals but what concerned him most was the fact that Test cricket might not go unscathed.

“A few 50-over games will make way for 20-over cricket but I’d hate to see it touch Test cricket. Right at the moment, it is probably not in its healthiest state. I think it’s up to all of us to make sure that we’re putting on a good enough spectacle to bring crowds back to the game,” Ponting told Cricinfo.

Ponting, who underwent a minor surgery on Monday to repair a wrist injury, said that he was open to the ICC World Test Championship, but a little apprehensive about how the format of the game would pan out.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, but I think the logistics of it is going to be the difficult thing,” he said.

“What it does do, I guess, is make sure that every Test you play has a lot riding on it as far as points go. But I’ve always said that every Test match Australia plays always means a lot to us anyway.” — PTI

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