India to play day-night Test, says report

The prospect of the Adelaide Test continuing its budding day-night tradition would appear to have grown with India reportedly giving the green light to a pink-ball debut ahead of their Test tour of Australia, reports cricket.com.au. Virat Kohli's side are set to resume their rivalry with Australia for a four-Test series this summer but the prospect of Adelaide Oval again hosting its annual fixture under lights has been in doubt given India's reluctance to embrace the relatively new concept. But reports out of Kolkata, where an International Cricket Council meeting is currently taking place, indicated on Tuesday one of the two Tests India will play on home soil against West Indies later this year will be a floodlit game. "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 will be a day-night Test," the Board of Control for Cricket in India's acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary said, according to India Today.

Exciting news! https://t.co/1Qy6vvbqL9

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) April 24, 2018

The Windies, who have already agreed in principle to play one of their two Tests against India under lights, will take on their hosts in Hyderabad and Rajkot in October. The decision to play one of those matches (it's unknown which one will be selected) as a day-night affair would indicate India's aversion to the concept has eased. India and Bangladesh are the only two Test-playing nations (excluding newcomers Ireland and Afghanistan, who are yet to play their inaugural matches) not to have played a day-night Test. The Adelaide Test has been a day-night fixture for the last three seasons but Cricket Australia's hopes of continuing that tradition are dependent on the approval of the Indian board.

#TeamIndia will play their first ever day/night Test against West Indies, confirms BCCI.https://t.co/T9Zg3v3RgX

— Circle of Cricket (@circleofcricket) April 23, 2018

While the home board (in this case CA) determines playing conditions of Test matches, such as start times and the type of ball used, the ICC's regulations specify that the visiting board needs to agree to playing a Test as a day-night contest. Ten Tests in total have been played under lights and Australia has won all four (three in Adelaide, one at the Gabba) of the pink-ball matches they've played. The Ashes saw its first day-night clash at Adelaide Oval last summer. Australia are also set to play two Tests against Sri Lanka this summer, with the full fixture expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Although the dates of all six Tests will be confirmed in that announcement, CA could delay announcing which of the matches will be floodlit, a scenario that played out in 2016 before South Africa eventually agreed to play their first day-night Test. The Adelaide Test has been a day-night affair for the past three seasons and the high crowd numbers and increased television ratings means officials at both CA and the South Australian Cricket Association are keen for that to continue. "Each time we play in Adelaide, when we played in Brisbane, it further reinforces that this is the future, day-night Test cricket is here to stay," CA CEO James Sutherland told ABC Radio last December. "It's a different-coloured ball, and perhaps it does play differently. Everyone has to face up to those conditions, no matter what they are, and I think everyone's got their head around that now. "As we've discussed at ICC level, it's very much in the hands of the home country to make judgments on what they think is best."