With thousands of seats going vacant at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday, cricket fans questioned the BCCI's decision to hold the first Test match against the West Indies in Ahmedabad.
Mohammed Siraj took 4/40 as India bowled a struggling West Indies out for 162 shortly before tea on the opening day after the visitors chose to bat.
In a deadly seven-over burst in the opening session, Siraj claimed three wickets up front and added another after lunch. India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah looked to be getting back into his rhythm after hitting a few yorkers to claim 3 wickets.
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Kuldeep Yadav (2/25), who had earlier bowled a brilliant delivery to dismiss Shai Hope in the morning session, wrapped up the innings by trapping Jomel Warrican (8) caught behind off a reverse sweep attempt.
However, fans were left debating the venue choice in light of the empty stands.
"If we had to play a lower tier team, we should have ideally played them in a stadium that people want to watch Test Cricket. Virat's suggestion of having fixed test venues should be looked at. Ahmedabad is the country's biggest stadium, and to host a lower tier team at such a big ground makes it look empty. Ahmedabad is good for T20 marquee contests. Not for tests, even against a marquee team. Tests should be played with a view of tourism and ease of connectivity. Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Delhi, Dharamsala and Vizag can be your fixed test centres ," one cricket fan posted on X.
In the 21st century, the BCCI has used 18 venues for Test matches, but debate continues over whether the longest format should be confined to fewer centres. Virat Kohli had supported the idea of limiting Test venues back in 2019.
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"We should have five Test centres, period. I agree state associations and rotation and giving games and all that is fine for T20 and one-day cricket, but Test cricket-teams coming to India should know, 'we're going to play at these five centres, these are the pitches we're going to expect, these are the kind of people that will come to watch'," Kohli had said.
The BCCI assigns fixtures for different bilateral series according to an unwritten rotation mechanism that aims to maintain state associations' satisfaction. In addition to this cycle, weather has a significant influence on where home games are held. In contrast, in the 21st century, nations such as Australia and England have limited their Test matches to 10 and 9 venues, respectively.
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