India not keen on day-night Test against Australia, West Indies

Virat Kohli

Cricket Australia's hopes of kicking off the India series at Adelaide with the day-night Test is unlikely to get a green signal from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The pink ball Test against West Indies later this year too may not be a possibility, despite BCCI's acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary recently hinting otherwise.

mid-day has learnt that India's Test players are not fully convinced about the day-night Test concept and want more time to get familiar with the change. Cricket Australia (CA) yesterday said that they are trying to convince the BCCI that the first match of the four-Test series, starting December 6, be played using the pink ball. However, chances are high that CA's proposal could be dumped.

"There has been no formal discussion as yet with the players on the day-night Test, but the general consensus among players is that they are not yet accustomed to it. A final call will be taken only after a meeting with the players which will happen after the T20 2018," a source told mid-day yesterday.

For the past three years, Adelaide has hosted a day-night Test. CA did not declare the match timings for India's opening Test, taking a similar approach as they did against South Africa in 2016, where the timings were announced nearly two months after confirmation of the dates. On the sidelines of the five-day ICC meeting in Kolkata last week, Chaudhary had said: "I had consulted the Indian team management, the selectors, the office bearers and all were in agreement that one of the two Tests against West Indies [in October] will be a day-night Test." The Committee of Administrators (CoA) had previously shot down Chaudhary's idea of hosting this day-night Test against the Windies.

Also Read: Vinod Rai: India's Test Specialists Will Be In England Early

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