Dubai: Former Pakistan captain and coach Waqar Younis feels that the proposed International Cricket Council (ICC) Test Championship will have no meaning if India and Pakistan do not play each other.
Speaking to Gulf News, soon after the ICC Cricket board meeting in Auckland announced their plans to launch a nine-team Test league and a 13-team ODI league aimed at bringing context and meaning to bilateral cricket, Younis said: “Test Championship is a good idea. They have to probably think hard how to go about it because with Pakistan not playing India, that is not going to the help the whole thing. If these two countries play each other it will not only help the Test Championship but also help the relations between the two countries.”
Younis strongly feels that India-Pakistan bilateral Tests series is a must. “You cannot really call this a Test championship if the top two teams are not playing against each others. How can you consider the others as champions or as No. 1 and No. 2 without these two teams not playing against each other as they are the two top teams.”
Referring to India’s objection to playing in Pakistan as well as in the UAE, Younis said: “If India want to play Pakistan, they can even play them in England or in Australia. It doesn’t matter where you play though the UAE is home for Pakistan.”
When asked about the proposed ICC’s One Day International league, Younis said: “I am surprised whether we have the time for such a league. We have got World Cup, Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup and so many ICC tournaments and so I don’t think there is any room for it. We are trying to build this Test championship because we don’t want Test cricket to suffer. We feel that Test cricket, if not held in England or Australia, it is suffering in other parts of the world.
“If ICC can bring everyone on board and play each other, people will get interested. There should be a point system where teams can go up and down over two years and then you will know exactly which team is the best,” he said.
Though there is a proposal for four-day Test matches, Younis said: “I am not for it and don’t believe in it. Test match cricket has been there for hundreds of years. I can understand introducing pink ball to pull in the crowd but any other alteration to Test cricket, I am not for it. I want to keep that beauty of the Test match cricket.”
Younis wants day-night cricket to be tested in India. “We saw day-night Test cricket doing well in England and in Australia. We haven’t seen it in India yet and we need to see how it works in India and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, a lot will depend on the weather. We need to pick the right weather for it.”
Younis does not want more modifications to One-day cricket too. “Enough modifications have been done. Let us go with it for the next two three years and then we will see if something is required. Too much changing is not good for the game and not good for the captains too as they need to keep learning and also for the commentators.”
Talking about Pakistan’s defeat in the Test series, Younis said: “Pakistan lost the Test series as they were a little complacent. They were under cooked and not prepared well enough. They were complacent thinking that Sri Lanka, who had lost to Zimbabwe and India, had players hit by injuries and hence will be easy. Pakistan was not a bad side but it was not a good start for (captain) Sarfraz.
“Pakistan need to identify who are their Test bowlers and who are their one-day bowlers. If Mohammad Amir is a one day bowler, stick with him in One dayers. If Hasan Ali is a One day or T20 bowler stick with him there and find bowlers who can give you the control, discipline and pace required for the Test match cricket. I don’t think in this series we were ready for that. We just came played and lost.”
