Team India not ready to play pink-ball Test against Australia

Among the major Test playing nations, India is the only country not to have featured in a day-night Test.

Australia have hosted four day-night Tests thus far | AFP

A member of the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) on Monday (April 30) ruled out the possibility of Indian cricket team’s participation in a day-night Test against Australia later this year.

In an exclusive interview with The Indian Express, a CoA member revealed that Virat Kohli and company are not ready to play pink-ball cricket just now.

“The CoA spoke to Ravi Shastri (the Indian team head coach) on April 12 and Shastri categorically mentioned that he has consulted with the team and the team is not ready to play pink-ball cricket just now. So a question of playing a day-night Test match in Adelaide just doesn’t arise,” a CoA member told The Indian Express.

Team India are scheduled to tour Australia for three T20Is, four Tests and three ODIs from November 21, 2018. The highly-anticipated series will commence with the shortest format (Twenty20 internationals) followed by a four-match Test series, with the first Test to be played at the Adelaide Oval from December 6, 2018.

Provided the fact that pink ball Test has become a huge success in Australian summer ever since the inaugural fixture against New Zealand in November 2015, CA are quite keen to take it to the next level. Apart from the high quality of cricket, the day-night Test has managed to attract the crowd and strong television ratings.

“It is our preference that we play India in a day-night Test match in Adelaide, but we are still working through this detail and hope to have an answer on this in the coming weeks,” CA CEO James Sutherland said in a media release on Monday (April 30).

Among the major Test playing nations, India is the only country not to have featured in a day-night Test. On the other hand, Australia has won all four of their pink ball games. No wonder, the world No.1 Test side is a bit hesitant to play the day-night fixture in a crucial series.

However, it is learned that India could play their maiden day-night Test in October against the West Indies at home. Earlier this year, the BCCI officials had carried out a meeting to discuss the various venues for India’s home matches in the forthcoming season. Subsequently, the BCCI acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary had stated that the prospect of day-night Test cricket in India was also considered in the meeting, but the eventual decision concerning it will be taken after getting the approval from Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA).

“The committee considered the proposal of converting 1 of the 2 Test matches into a day-night Test match. We considered the viewpoint of all the stakeholders and the view was unanimous on favoring this experiment. However, the decision was not taken today. The only decision taken today was to send recommendations to the COA. The day-night Test match will happen only when CoA approves,” Amitabh Choudhary had quoted as saying by ANI on March 17, 2018.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 01 May, 2018

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