India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday (November 21) said Day-Night Test can be a “one-off thing but not a regular scenario”. For Kohli, facing a red cherry in the first session remains to be an ultimate challenge and doesn’t want it to be comprised for the sake of entertainment.
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India and Bangladesh are set to make their pink-ball debut under lights at the Eden Gardens on November 22.
Earlier, Kohli and company had some reservations against pink-ball Test but things change with Sourav Ganguly taking charge as BCCI president.
"I think this can be a one-off thing but it should not be a regular scenario. In my opinion, this should not become the only way Test cricket is played. Because then you are losing out on that nervousness of the first session in the morning," Virat told reporters on the eve of India’s first ever Day-Night Test in Kolkata.
"You can bring excitement into Test cricket but you can't purely make Test cricket based on just entertaining people. Entertainment of Test cricket lies in the fact that a batsman is trying to survive a session and the bowler is trying to set up a batsman (to get him) out. If people don't respond to that, too bad," he added.
Kohli believes loving Test cricket is an organic feeling and one can’t push someone to like it.
"If I don't like Test cricket, you can't push me into liking it. If someone gets excitement or boost from watching the battle between bat and ball and great session of Test cricket, in my opinion those are the people that should come and watch Test cricket because they understand what's going on."
India's last series against South Africa witnessed a poor turnout but the tickets for the first four days of the pink-ball Test have already been sold out.
"Yes, it's great to create more buzz around Test cricket. The first four days here are sold-out, which is amazing for Test cricket."
"Imagine the boost our bowlers have standing at the mark with some 80,000 (67,000) fans cheering for him. I am expecting very exciting cricket in the first hour because the energy level will be very high. I am sure the fans would enjoy it. It's a landmark Test and we are lucky to be the first Indian team playing it. It's a great honour," Kohli concluded.
He also backed former India skipper Rahul Dravid's suggestion of having a proper calendar to revive the longest format.
"It would bring a lot more system and a lot more sync into people planning their calendars as well. It can't be random. If you have centres which are marked an if you have Test calendars, which are marked, people will have a better system as to how we can plan to get into those Tests.
"People are not just going to leave work and come to a Test match if they don't know what's going on. They can plan things. I think this can be a one-off thing, it should not be a regular scenario," he maintained.
(With PTI inputs)
