India now has five Test series against the oldest cricketing nations: the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and the freshly named Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England. Cricket’s old powers own the Ashes, which constitute the game’s most mythologized rivalry. And although the rest of Test cricket has recently seemed to be simply the supporting structure that supports this glamorous triple top, a force has emerged that is giving life to the unofficial second tier of Test nations.
In the current WTC cycle, both teams are essentially too low in the rankings to make a meaningful run for a spot in the finals. Pakistan have been moored at the bottom of the nine-team competition since the start of this cycle last year, having won two and lost seven Tests. Sri Lanka’s current cycle hasn’t been as bleak (aside from the scheduling nightmare of having gone 12 months without a Test), but with one win in six matches, their chances of a top-two finish are also all but over.
Whereas a decade ago, when these teams often played each other, a Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Test series would have been its own reward. Now, each of these tests serves a broader purpose. Regardless, these teams appeared to cut their losses for this cycle. They made strategic decisions in preparation for the next WTC cycle, which will not begin until the middle of next year.
For Sri Lanka, Dhananjaya de Silva resigned with half the current cycle’s matches remaining, for example, although he still earns a place in the team for his batting. This is essentially to give Kusal Mendis a long tenure as leader before the next cycle begins. As a wicketkeeper and captain in all formats, Mendis’ list of responsibilities has exploded over the past two years, and Dhananjaya’s earlier than expected exit will also allow the selectors and team management to assess whether he can handle such a workload. Dhananjaya, at 35, was unsure if he would continue his career until 2029, when the next cycle ends. Mendis, 31, appears to have reached a new level of maturity as a hitter and has a much better chance of reaching 2029.
The fact that Sri Lanka saw a green trail overseas and attached four seamers to the plow is also evidence of WTC-inspired thinking. Sri Lanka of the 2010s would have been laughed out of going into a Test without a specialist spinner, especially against Pakistan. (To be fair, Sri Lanka of that era had Rangana Herath, who tended to gobble up Pakistan’s top orders.) But in this match, they picked three frontline seamers, a bowling all-rounder and inserted the opposition team on a green surface.
Sometimes Test cricket fans feel that it is more about status than performance and entertainment, which is why WTC has received a cold reception in some parts of the cricketing world. But seven years later, its structure began to define the contours of Test cricket.
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