“You go to India now and they won’t watch Test cricket. It’s all IPL. They earn big money and it sounds great now, but how long do they think this is going to last? Test cricket has been around for 100 years plus, it’s not going to go anywhere,” Botham told the Mirror Sport ahead of the Border Gavaskar series.

“And if we do lose Test cricket, then we’ll lose cricket as we know it. It will become meaningless. To play a Test match is what every player should want to do,” he added.

Botham also spoke about the upcoming Ashes tour and said England could well beat the Aussies, considering how Bazball has helped the Three Lions turn their fortunes around.

When asked if it is a viable process that can be continued, Botham replied in the affirmative and said, “Yes, it’s sustainable, they’ve just played 10 games, won nine and lost one. Look, if you play like that you’re going to lose occasionally, it’s inevitable, but what a great advert for Test cricket. To win 3-0 in Pakistan is a great effort. Pakistan just don’t lose 3-0 at home. And to achieve that was fantastic.

“I think they’ll continue to play in that way; I think it’s something that goes through the dressing room, and they all want to be positive and they want to win. It’s not just about their batting that way, but bowling as well. They’ve decided they are going to go down this route and I think it’s the right way.”