Harbhajan Singh unsure if pink-ball Test can pull crowd to stadiums, explains why

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh expressed uncertainty over the pink-ball Test's ability to draw more people to the stadiums owing to the ease of watching cricket on the go on mobiles and other streaming devices & the lack of facilities in various stadiums around India. As the big day of the historic and first-ever Day-night and pink-ball Test nears, many former cricketers have expressed their opinion on skipper Virat Kohli's idea of having dedicated Test centers in the country. While some backed the Indian skipper's idea and said that it was a good way to create a Test culture, some cricketers have objected to the idea, pointing out various cons that are and will lead to poor turnout. 

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Harbhajan Singh unsure if pink-ball Test can draw large crowds

The former Indian spinner, while interacting with the media on the sidelines of Simon Taufel's book launch, said that while the idea of playing a day-night & pink-ball Test was a good experiment, he was unsure if it could bring back crowds to the stadiums. Harbhajan Singh explained that the option of having dedicated Test centers could turn out to be futile as the scenario in centers such as Indore (where a sizeable crowd had gathered at the Holkar Stadium) as there were office-going people who would not be able to watch the game from the stadium in the mornings or the afternoons. Further, Harbhajan Singh went on to explain that the lack of facilities in stadiums also resulted in poor turnout and cited examples from the Pune Test where fans were disappointed as there were no proper toilets and parking facilities. Resounding with NCA head Rahul Dravid's opinion, Harbhajan Singh said that streaming devices that allow people to watch the game on the go plays a huge factor in the poor turnout. Talking about the effect of one-sided competitions on crowed turnout, Harbhajan Singh explained that India's opponents have been decimated and that people know about one-sided games and hence have lost interest. 

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'All about a vision to make Test cricket great'

A day prior to the first test match, Virat Kohli in the press address said, "Yes, I have suggested to have certain test centres because if you look at the ratio, where in Indore, many people come to watch the match but at other stadiums, many people do not come. Just like when we go to other countries to play, we know we are going to play at MCG, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. We know we'll play four test matches and we know what to expect and how much of crowd to expect too. People also know that there is a test match on this date and at this venue. Hence, it is all about creating a culture. If you take up Indore for example, in T20 or ODI game there will not be a single seat vacant but in Test match, there might be a few vacant seats. I think this is a too deep thought and is definitely not about criticising a particular city or taking away matches from the people of that city but it is about a vision which enables all of us to make test cricket great again."

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