Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has advocated for the establishment of standard testing centers for home games in India, supporting earlier demands by Virat Kohli in 2019. Speaking on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’, the 39-year-old off-spinner highlighted the importance of considering not only crowd size but also players’ familiarity and pitch conditions while selecting Test match venues across the country.Ashwin stressed that playing conditions vary significantly across different regions of India, which can impact the quality of Test matches. He particularly highlighted the challenges with pitches in certain parts of the country, particularly the lack of bounce in the eastern regions.The 106-Test veteran stressed that while selecting Test venues, priority should be given to places with excellent pitch conditions where the Indian team has playing experience. This familiarity represents a legitimate home advantage, according to Ashwin.“Test centers are not just about crowds. It’s also about the familiarity of the conditions. If we host a Test in Guwahati or Ranchi, I am not against those possible venues. But the problem in India is that every surface has a different identity. In the eastern part of the country, there is literally no bounce. Then it becomes a run-of-the-mill Test pitch.”Ashwin raised concerns about hosting matches at venues where even Indian players lack top-class cricket experience. He referred to the recent Test match in Guwahati against South Africa to illustrate his point on unknown venues.“Make sure the testing center you choose has the best pitches. Some venues are better than others only because the pitches are better and the team is used to the conditions. That’s home advantage.” Otherwise the only point is that you are playing within the Indian map as home but you are not at home.The discussion agrees with ViratKohliHis previous recommendation in 2019 in which he suggested limiting Test matches to five permanent centers in India. Ashwin acknowledged the historical reasons for multiple testing centers but questioned their current relevance.“Eden Gardens, Guwahati – if you play South Africa there, should there be standard testing centers? Virat said years ago that they need to be fixed.” Personally I think it’s time, why are we setting up testing centers? This would allow more cricketers to emerge and their associations would receive more funding. But Guwahati as a Test match is not a home game for either team and I don’t think anyone in the Indian team has played a first-class game in Guwahati.“Kohli’s original proposal in 2019 was to maintain rotation of venues for limited-count formats while setting up fixed testing centers. His vision aimed to provide visiting teams with clearer expectations regarding playing conditions and spectator atmosphere.“We’ve been discussing this for a long time and I think we should have five testing centers, period. I mean, I agree.” [with] State associations and rotation and arranging games and all that, that’s fine for T20 and one-day cricket, but Test cricket teams coming to India should know, “We’re going to play in these five centers, these are the pitches we’re going to expect, these are the kind of people who are going to come to watch, crowds.”“The debate over standardization of Test venues in India continues to highlight the balance between maintaining traditional rotation policies and creating uniform playing conditions for the longest format of the game.
