Former South African speedster Dale Steyn took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared a hilarious tweet on the light of the shortest test match ever that concluded within 1 and a half days between India and South Africa at the Newlands Cricket Ground yesterday, claiming that a test match which lasts less than 4-5 days, isn’t a test match.
Dale Steyn is not the only one who has come out to express his opinion on the matter and he joins the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Aakash Chopra, Ravi Shastri, and Vernon Philander on this debacle. Most of them opinionated on the fact that the 2nd test should not have ended so early but all of them gave a varied opinion on the pitch.
Gavaskar and Chopra opined that test matches should not be played in tracks like this (Newlands) and also bashed SENA country media for complaining about Indian pitches being highly favorable for spin. Ravi Shastri’s comments revolved around how quickly India’s 2nd innings finished by using a very uncanny metaphor.
Vernon Philander opined that batters must look to improve their respective techniques on tricky surfaces but his former teammate Dale Steyn provided a different opinion altogether. Steyn was not at all impressed with the match’s duration and was expecting a full 5 days of action after the 1st test had also ended by Day 3.
“Let Cracks Appear And Let The Pitch Deteriorate”, Dale Steyn Opines On Fan’s Tweet
Dale Steyn, who scalped 439 test wickets for South Africa, while replying to a tweet about the pitch curator of Newlands deliberately leaving a cover of grass on the pitch to prevent cracks from opening up, asked why are people so afraid of cracks.
Why we so scared of cracks?
Think Sydney, Perth. Cracks so wide you can park a car inside them, and yet they always get to days 4 and 5! Pointless a test being over so fast you don’t even see a hint of a crack.
Pitches deteriorate over the days, let it happen. Two day tests are…— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) January 4, 2024
He used the examples of pitches in Sydney and Perth and funnily claimed that cracks over there are so wide that one can even park their vehicles inside them. He claimed that players or curators should not be wary of cracks and affirmed that test matches should not be this short-lived.