India driving global test cricket

With a unique kind of a cricket series being played at England, as the five-match tournament resumed on July 1 after a year-long break, the Indian cricket players are once again under the spotlight all over the world. India has emerged as the cricket capital of the world over the years, following with the stupendous success of IPL and bilateral tournaments, with our cricket-crazy fans ensuring staggering revenue for those running the game with mind-boggling viewership and dedicated hero worship.

Cricket is quite easily the national game today with improved earning opportunities, multi-level playing scope for talented youngsters and above all increasingly popular with the women too who have done wonderfully well. So much so, they have their own standings in the global cricketing arena, independent of the men who are being envied for their exposure, earnings and entertainment quotient.

Call it the age-old regional quota politics or out-of-the-box thinking, a few moves by the people who matter in recent times have paid dividends. After divesting the responsibilities of leading Indian cricket in its various formats from Virat Kohli, the mantle was passed on to Rohit Sharma, and it fitted him snugly and his leadership proved inspiring. With the dreaded pandemic robbing him of continuing with his prime role, the management seemed to have taken a calculated gamble by handing over charge to the ace pace bowler, Jasprit Bumrah instead of Kohli once again, despite his presence in the cricket team currently playing the fifth test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Eager to prove and claim a longer tenure at the top, the fast bowler with an original, aggressive bowling style has made the cricketing world sit up and take notice for a slam bang beginning to his career as a captain. After setting a world record with his quirky 31 not out, beating the titan Brian Lara's achievement made 18 years ago, Bumrah has made early inroads into the English cricket team, which is on a high after beating New Zealand comprehensively in a recent series. He also has the distinction of being the only captain who has made so many runs at number 10 slot, a new world record.

In recent times, the test cricket format has seen sustained support from a dedicated band of young cricketers, who have made the transition effortlessly from the white ball game to the red ball one. Virat Kohli swears by it while many other talented mavericks have customised it to suit their brand of play, which is seen in dazzling form in T20 and ODI formats. Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper who is widely tipped to take over the top slot a la Mahinder Singh Dhoni in future, comes to mind. His current exploits have left many global players scratching their heads to ascertain what style he adopts to stay ahead of them all.

It is in this promising environment India is placed as far as cricket goes, which has effortlessly made the game's top players rub shoulders with the great sports celebrities in other fields at the international level. From here on, it can only grow more and more!