Morgan: Test Game Can Benefit From IPL

International Cricket Council president David Morgan hopes the new fans who have flocked to the Indian Premier League will boost Test cricket - rather than marginalise it.

Rajasthan Royals claimed a last-ball, three-wicket victory over of Chennai Super Kings to win the inaugural tournament yesterday.

The Twenty20 competition has captured the imagination of cricket fans and reportedly encouraged a new following for the sport in India.

Concerns have been raised, however, that the money and glamour attracted by the IPL could take the focus away from Test cricket, the traditional blue riband form of the game.

But Morgan, a former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, hopes one-day and Test cricket will reap the rewards from the interest generated by the shortest form of all.

"I'm proud that Twenty20, a format first developed by the England and Wales Cricket Board, had such a widespread appeal, bringing in a new, wider and young audience, which the ICC welcomes," he said at the IPL closing ceremony.

"We at the ICC hope that the new spectators will come to love other formats of the game as well.

"Cricket is fortunate to possess three properties - Twenty20, which thrilled so many people, ODI which is equally thrilling and Test cricket, the pinnacle."