Gambhir and Ranatunga Warn Two-Test Series Shortchange Test Cricket

In Colombo on August 24, 2026 India head coach Gautam Gambhir said he would prefer three-Test series to two-Test series, citing India’s 2001 comeback against Australia and the 2015 tour of Sri Lanka as examples of why longer series matter. Gambhir made the comments ahead of the ongoing second Test in Colombo and argued a three-match format allows a side beaten in the opener a genuine chance to recover.

In 2001, India arrived under a cloud after the 2000 match-fixing revelations and faced a dominant Australian side led by Steve Waugh, who carried a 15-Test winning streak into the first of three matches at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. Australia extended that run to a record-equalling 16 matches and defeated India by ten wickets in Mumbai, then posted 445 in the first innings of the second Test at Eden Gardens while India were dismissed for 171 in reply. Harbhajan Singh took a Test hat-trick on the opening day at Eden, but India still began the second innings 274 runs behind.

A tactical change — moving V.V.S. Laxman to No. 3 and Rahul Dravid down to No. 6 — produced a partnership worth 376, and the pair batted through the fourth day before Sourav Ganguly declared on the final morning. Through “281 and 180 and the offie’s six for 73 and the genius’ three for 31,” India completed an unlikely victory by 171 runs, an outcome the original report described as returning the confidence of the fans. India then secured the series with a tight two-wicket win in Chennai to prevail 2-1.

Gambhir drew a parallel with India’s 2015 tour of Sri Lanka, noting that a single Test reversal can have outsized consequences in shorter series. In Galle that year India took a first-innings lead of 192 but allowed Sri Lanka to reach 367 in the second innings from 95 for five after Dinesh Chandimal made 162, leaving India a fourth-innings target of 176. India resumed day four at 23 for the loss of K.L. Rahul’s wicket; Rangana Herath then took seven wickets as Sri Lanka won by 63 runs under Angelo Mathews.

The 2015 defeat prompted a severe dressing-room response — the original account says harsh words were spoken, Kohli and then team director Ravi Shastri “read the riot act” — and India recovered to win the next two Tests and take the series 2-1, an outcome the piece links to the genesis of a subsequent six-match winning streak in the country. Gambhir referenced those sequences when explaining his preference for three-Test series.

Gambhir’s direct words were published unchanged: “Ideally, I would want a three-Test series,” he said. “I’ve always believed that there should always be a possibility that a team that loses in the first Test should have the chance to come back. Sometimes, what happens is, in a two-Test match series, if you lose the first Test match, there is no chance for the other team to come back and win the series. The maximum you can do is to try and draw the series. “I still remember that series, between India and Australia (2001), where India was one down, and they still managed to come back, and win that series 2-1.”

The article notes structural pressures that have made two-Test series common: the World Test Championship has been in place since 2019, there is no compulsion for teams to schedule more than two Tests, commercial considerations and the demand for T20 internationals have encouraged the shorter format, and packed calendars with ICC events and continental tournaments such as the Asia Cup constrain bilateral Test scheduling. The write-up also records that criticism of South Africa’s route to the WTC final as being based on two-match series was described as “an unkind cut” in the original piece.

Arjuna Ranatunga’s comments are reproduced in full: “For me, playing a Test tournament is not the criterion, it’s all about playing bilateral Test matches, playing three- and five-Test series,” he told the writer. “What’s this two-Test series about anyway? It’s so unfortunate, this World Test Championship is (just) another commercial venture.” The report adds that Australia versus Bangladesh is cited as “the classic example of the power of the three-match contest.”

Gambhir’s remarks were made ahead of the ongoing second Test in Colombo, and the discussion in the piece frames a continuing debate over whether bilateral Test series should be standardised at three or five matches rather than the two-Test fixtures that have become frequent.