New Test venues not to be blamed for increase in India’s home losses

While players are against spreading Tests to too many centres, lack of planning may be more responsible for India losing the edge at home

- Rasesh Mandani

MUMBAI: On Saturday, Guwahati, among the earliest sunrise destinations in the country, will become India’s 28th home Test venue. Being early winter, the sun disappears quickly too in eastern India. To avoid loss of overs, there will be an early start and a short tea break will precede a longer lunch interval. But these are not the only adjustments India has to makeas they look to recover from the Kolkata Test defeat against South Africa.

An untested Test venue will also leave the hosts to deal with plenty of other imponderables: state of the outfield, unfamiliar ground conditions and, abovealll, the playing surface. Over the past 10 years, there has been a number of new venues added to India’s Test cricket destinations: Dharamshala, Pune, Ranchi, Indore, Rajkot and Visakhapatnam.

“The only pointis that you are playing within that Indian map and itis referred to as home, but it isnot home,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. The recently retired off-spinner reiterated Virat Kohl's point to have standard Test venues, similar to Australia, England and South Africa, in order to maximise home advantage.