India will play a day-night Test during its tour of Australia later this year, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly said on Sunday. This comes a month after captain Virat Kohli asserted that his team was ready to play a day-night Test anywhere in Australia.
“Yes, India will play a day-night Test in Australia. A formal announcement will be made soon,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told PTI .
Ganguly, the former India captain, also said the second Test of the next home series against England will be a day-night affair. He added that the Board will try to have at least one day-night Test in each series moving forward.
India played its maiden day-night Test against Bangladesh last November at Eden Gardens. After India’s win, Ganguly had said the BCCI “will deal as per the request” of the host Board when on tour.
While the venue has not been finalised yet, the pink ball game is likely to be held either in Adelaide or in Perth. Hosting the game in one of these venues makes sense given the better time slot for Indian broadcast audience.
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On the eve of India’s three-match ODI series opener at home against Australia last month, Kohli had said, “We’re ready and up for the challenge. Whether it’s Gabba, Perth — it doesn’t matter to us. It’s become a very exciting feature of any Test series and we’re open to playing day-night Tests.”
India had declined Australia’s offer to play a day-night Test in Adelaide in 2018-19, citing lack of experience. However, with day-night match seen as a possible answer to Test cricket’s dwindling attendances, Australia had been hoping that India would agree to play one game at the Gabba, Brisbane, this year.
A Cricket Australia (CA) delegation met top BCCI officials on the sidelines of a limited-overs series in January with the day-night Test figuring on the agenda.
Meanwhile, it is also learnt that India is set to play three ODIs and three T20 Internationals in Sri Lanka after the IPL.
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