What is Test cricket?

After reading this article, you will be able to comfortably watch test cricket with your friends. Test cricket is one of the three main formats of the cricket game. It is played for 5 continuous days. It is the oldest, longest and most perfect format of the game. 

 

Test cricket is played in white jerseys only. A player's name is written on the back of the jersey. You can guess from the scorecard which team is batting. It can possibly have 4 possible results. Win, Loss, Draw or Tie. A team wins when it has scored more runs than the other team and both teams have completed their innings. The opposite team loses the game. A draw occurs when even after 5 days, no team is able to win the game because the innings are not completed. A tie happens when both teams score same number of runs. 

There are maximum 4 innings in test matches. The team which bats in first innings has to bowl in second innings. If the team which bats second fails to score enough runs such that it lags behind 200+ runs from the team in first innings, then the team which batted in second innings can be asked to bat again in third innings. This situation is called 'follow-on' In other cases, the team which bats first has to bat again in third innings. Each innings is completed when batting team loses all the 10 wickets or it decides to declare the innings at any point. A team declared the innings when it has scored enough runs and wants to win the test match by finishing the game in 5 days. 

If the team which is asked to follow on, cannot score the total number of runs of the opposition team in both second and third innings combined, then it loses the game by an inning. In other cases, once the team batting in fourth innings scores more runs than the team batting in third innings, then it wins the game. If 5 days are completed without a result, then it is a draw.

Each day of test match has maximum 90 overs to be bowled by either team. If time runs out, then sometimes even less than 90 overs are bowled. There is no restriction in number of overs a team can play. A team can play for as long as it doesn't lose 10 wickets. So it becomes important to take wickets in this format. If you want to know more about other topics of cricket, follow other articles.