Apparently the crowd for the second Test between India and the West Indies is as sparse as the crowd for the first Test and without the excuse of being in the middle of nowhere. Of course, there are mitigating circumstances. The Indian public have been saturated with cricket this year and may be a bit burnt out. The West Indies are a long way from the force, and thus the draw that they once were, whilst India have not played well this year either. Also, the Test started on a Monday, which is certainly a questionable decision. So there are reasons besides the imminent collapse of Test cricket in India why the turnout might be low.
Still, it’s very troubling. If Indian crowds continue to favour the shorter forms then so will the BCCI and if the BCCI favour the shorter forms then so will the ICC. We’ve already seen that in the postponement of the Test Championship. It may get worse in the future; the Indian team look like they will get worse before they will get better. Without knowing the intricacies of the situation in India I can’t think of a good way to boost interest, but hopefully someone will. India is a big enough market that there must be a fair number of people who still love Test cricket, or would if given the proper opportunity.
Defensive Indifference 