It is all about Defeating, rather than Winning

Any sport is about winning the game. Teams and individual always want to win. But test cricket, which is often termed as a slow and boring show is all about defeat. It is all about sustaining the endurance for 5 days to defeat the opponent. In an one day international match or in T20 the latest form of cricket, a team can win the match by performing better than the other team. But in test cricket, a team can't claim to be the winner, if it hasn't defeated the other team. 

In an ODI or in a T20, a team doesn't have to necessarily defeat the other team to be a winner. It is all about scoring runs within the allotted overs and trying to contain the opposition in not allowing to overscore. But the ball game is completely different in test cricket. It is all about posting a target in excess of what the other team coudl get and conquering all batsmen as well. That's why a required run rate of 4.5 in a test cricket, is still very much a difficult target to achieve, which is considered to be a lower than average required run rate in an ODI or in a T20 game. 

Test cricket is the best arena to display a team's endurance and skills. It provides a level playing field for all the players in the team, be it batsmen or bowlers. In a race between a prowling panther and a deer, the deer might outrun the panther for a few minutes initially, with its speed. But it is the endurance of the panther which enables it to conquer the deer. The panther hasn't won over the deer. For the deer had outrun the panther. But the panther defeats the deer in its hunt. That's why purists still rate test cricket as the epitome of any form of cricket. Other shorter forms of cricket can still be glamorous. But the swing of the game, that happens in a test cricket has no parallel in any other format of the game.

A test match is not said to be won, if a team doesn't conquer all 10 batsmen in both innings, inspite of posting a target in excess of what the opponent could score. Great teams defeat the opponent to gain a victory. Newspapers should change their headlines to say that "Team XXX defeated Team YYY", when it comes to test cricket. It is much more than just a game.