In order to ensure the longevity of the longer format, former India coach Ravi Shastri has advocated for the introduction of a two-tier system in Test cricket.

Shastri’s remarks follow the Boxing Day Test between Australia and India, which attracted 373,691 viewers over the course of five days, making it the highest watched Test match in Australia. The previous record, set at the same location during the 1936–37 Ashes series against England, was surpassed by 350,534.

When the finest teams compete, the game’s roughest and best format is still alive and flourishing, as seen by the breaking of crowd records that have existed for over a century.

Additionally, it served as a good reminder to the International Cricket Council (ICC) that in order for Test cricket to endure, the top players must perform at the highest level. Otherwise, I would argue that there is much clutter.

“This game serves as further evidence of the necessity for a two-tier system that includes promotion and relegation in addition to the top 6–8 clubs. “If you don’t have two legitimate teams playing, you won’t get these kinds of crowds,” Shastri wrote in his column for The Australian on Wednesday.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) presented a proposal for a two-tier Test structure in 2016. However, during its chief executives’ committee (CEC) meeting in Dubai in September 2016, it was withdrawn.

Amidst persistent cries that Test matches should be shortened to four days, Shastri, a part of India’s 1983 ODI World Cup-winning squad, said that the exciting Test match in Melbourne also demonstrated why tests should be played for five days.

“The last theater on Monday, day five, provided further evidence why a great Test match requires five days. But if you don’t set up a two-tier structure, you’ll still have teams that aren’t matched against one another, and it’s quite improbable that they’ll be able to play until the fifth day. Then, discussions about four-day tests will never stop.

Australia is 2-1 ahead of the fifth and final Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which begins on January 3, after winning the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by 184 runs.