The International Cricket Council (ICC) is set to discuss the idea of making Tests four-day games to ease a crammed international calendar and reduce player workload.
England have said they will support the idea after 2023 while Australia are to give serious consideration to the plan.
The powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has yet to share their opinion, but India captain Virat Kohli has said he is totally against the plan.
“I am not a fan,” Kohli told reporters. “I think the intent will not be right then because then you will speak of three-day tests, I mean where do you end?
“Then you will speak of test cricket disappearing. I don’t endorse that at all.”
England vice-captain Ben Stokes and Australia skipper Tim Paine have also opposed the ICC’s idea for four-day Tests. And now Rohit Sharma, Team India’s limited-overs vice-captain, has echoed the same sentiments.
The Indian star, who was recently promoted as an opener in the longest format of the game, came up with a brilliant response, saying that a four-day game is not a Test match but a first-class match.
“If it is a four-day, it is not a Test match. Four-day means a first-class match. It is as simple as that,” Rohit was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Sharma, meanwhile, is currently on a break from cricket and is thus not playing in the ongoing T20I series against Sri Lanka. He will return to action when India take on Australia in the three-match ODI series later this month. Following the Australia series, India will fly out to New Zealand for a full-fledged series.
