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Captain Virat Kohli Wanted BCCI To Arrange Test Cricket At Only Five Venues In India

Virat Kohli in India's training session (Source:@vkkings007/X.com)Virat Kohli in India's training session (Source:@vkkings007/X.com)

Virat Kohli is a strong character and is often quite clear about his views and actions on and off the field. He led India in Test cricket from 2014 to 2021, and he is considered one of India's most successful Test skippers. His press conferences were also quite intense during those days, and now the opinion he gave away on the Test venues in India is going viral after two consecutive  days of India-Bangladesh Test have been washed out.

The Green Park Stadium in Kanpur is hosting the second Test between India and Bangladesh, and so far, with three days done, only 35 overs have been possible. There was rain on the initial two days, but despite no rain on the third day, no cricket was possible due to a wet outfield due to a poor drainage system. It has once again reignited the debate that Test cricket should be played only in selected big venues, and it is an old debate where players like Anil Kumble and Virat Kohli have backed traditional venues to host Test cricket.

Virat Kohli Advices BCCI To Rotate Venues In White-Ball Formats

In 2019, after the India-South Africa series, the then-Indian skipper Virat Kohli was asked about his opinion on Test venues in India. Kohli, in reply, clearly stated that he wants India to play Test cricket only at five venues and added that the rotation between state associations can be done in white-ball formats. The lack of crowds in the small cities for Test cricket was a big issue then, and Kohli mentioned that if the venues are fixed and are played at the traditional big venues, good attendance will be assured.

"We've been discussing this for a long time now, and in my opinion we should have five Test centres, period. "I mean, I agree [with] state associations and rotation and giving games and all that, 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, crowds."


"So that becomes a challenge already, when you're leaving your shores, because we go to any place, we know we're having four Test matches in these venues, this is what the pitch is going to offer, it's going to be a full stadium, the crowd's behind the [home] team, and look, you want to keep Test cricket alive and exciting. I totally agree with the fact that we need five Test centres at the max."


"It can't be sporadic and spread over so many places where people turn up or they don't, so in my opinion, absolutely. You should have five strong Test centres that teams coming to India know that this is where they're going to play."

So, despite the then-India captain backing the fixation of Test venues, BCCI has continued rotating venues for the longest format. However, with conditions in Kanpur now getting widespread criticism, the future of Test venues in India could well go in the direction that Virat Kohli wanted five years ago.