Former IPL president Lalit Modi has raised eyebrows with his strong yet bold ideas on how to protect Test cricket amid growing franchise leagues around the world. He fears how modern games are changing rapidly and leaving traditional formats on the back burner.

Modi called Test cricket the purest form of the game and wants this format to be saved for future generations because franchise leagues have almost eclipsed it.

Lalit Modi shares bold ideas to save Test Cricket

He boldly stated that one-day internationals have already lost much of their charm and this format is not relevant in this modern era. The former IPL president also mentioned that only England and Australia still respect Test cricket properly.

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Lalit Modi told Michael Vaughan on The Overlap Cricket podcast: “I hope Test cricket survives because I love the format. One-day internationals are completely irrelevant. It’s pointless, mainly because there’s a shorter and shorter format in T20 cricket. It’s not about money anymore; it’s about whether you can maintain the loyalty of the crowd.”

Modi said the younger generation mainly follows short-format cricket, making it difficult for Test matches to draw large crowds over five days. He added that this generation is only experiencing real Test cricket in Australia and England.

Lalit Modi suggests four-day and day-night tests; praises England and Australia for keeping Test cricket alive

He stressed that only England and Australia are “keeping the standard of Test cricket alive” due to the Ashes and the English county season and the rest of the world’s Test cricket is “dying”. To keep Test cricket attractive and competitive, the ICC introduced the World Test Championship (WTC), but Modi believes this could not save the format.

The former IPL president feels that this gap between fans and Test cricket is slowly increasing and to address this, he suggested four-day matches and also having them played day and night.

Modi continued: “People think I am crazy for suggesting this, but I care. I have been saying this since 2007: Tests should be made a four-day game and played day and night because people today do not have the luxury of spending four days sitting in the sun. Those were the old days, when there was only one TV channel and Test cricket was rare. Now, with the media so easily accessible, every match around the world is available at the click of a button.”

IPL teams should own Test teams: Lalit Modi

The 62-year-old also gave a bold and controversial idea that IPL-style franchise teams should own Test sides to generate more interest, better financial support and greater fan loyalty to the traditional format of the game.

Modi signed off by saying, “I will say something controversial: the only way Test cricket can survive is if IPL teams own Test teams. You might get shot for saying this, but this is the first time I am saying it publicly. You have the youngsters and more importantly, the loyalty factor.”

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