Harbhajan for more Tests to keep format alive

Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh has suggested that the best way of keeping Test cricket healthy is to play more Test matches. Citing the example of England's exciting victory to regain the Ashes, Harbhajan said the longer form of the game is alive and kicking and there's no need for any radical moves like playing night Tests.

"If you look at the Ashes, every day had such large crowds in the stadiums, [as much] as you would see for a Twenty20 game," Harbhajan said. "I think you should keep all the three formats, but increase the number of Test matches." He added that he would like to play 12-15 Tests per year.

Unlike the Ashes, which was a sellout at all five venues, the response to Tests on the subcontinent, including India, has been lukewarm. One recent and prominent example was Sourav Ganguly's farewell Test in Nagpur during the 2008 home series against Australia, which was witnessed by only a few thousand despite the huge popularity of the former India captain. Harbhajan, who was the second-highest wicket-taker in Tests last year, said the administrators need to market Test cricket creatively to enliven the fans' enthusiasm.

"The spectators may not like Test cricket that much but as a cricketer I want to play more Test matches. It is just you need to bring a lot of people into the stadium by creating that kind of buzz in the market," Harbhajan said. As a solution, suggested recently by Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan said it would be good to offer free entry to students on weekends.

"If Sachin Tendulkar plays a Ranji Trophy match a 25,000-strong crowd turns up. So if you plan properly then certainly we will draw people back to the stadium to watch Test cricket," Harbhajan said. "I have seen whenever we play in Chennai or Bangalore we get the same crowd as we would get for a one-day match."