Cricket bosses in Australia aim to secure day-night Test against India next year

India is all set to make its Day/Night Test debut when they will host Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens next month. Interestingly, Team India and Bangladesh are the only full-member nations (apart from new entrants Afghanistan and Ireland) who have not yet featured in a Day/Night Test.

As always, India had been resistant to change, like they have always done. They were the last to accept One-day cricket post the Kerry-Packer revolution, they were opposed to the staging of ICC World Twenty20 in 2007 and nearly did not participate in the quadrennial event and of-course the Decision Review System- it took the Men in Blue to finally accept the system in bilateral series, eight years after its inception.

But the winds of change are blowing in Indian cricket. With virtually no one turning up to see the home side swat aside the South Africans 3-0, it has been a long source of contention as to whether Day/Night Tests is the solution towards bringing fans back to the stadiums. And, with Sourav Ganguly becoming the head of the BCCI, the process assumed nutrition in a jiffy, with the BCB duly accepting the proposal of playing the second Test at the Eden Gardens in a day/night affair.

Australian State Associations in a tussle for hosting Australia-India Day/Night Tests

So, with India set to play its first Day/Night Test, the state cricket organizations in Australia have gone into overdrive in a bid to claim the rights of the iconic Day/Night Test between the hosts and Team India when Virat Kohli’s men tour Down Under for a four-match Test series next summer. It is to be noted that the BCCI had refused to play the D/N Test at the Adelaide Oval during their 2018-19 tour.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson, according to a report published in Herald Sun, noted ‘discussions with India are very encouraging’. The Adelaide Oval- widely considered as the home of pink-ball Tests- is among the front-runners to host the marquee Test with the MCG and SCG staging the traditional Boxing Day and New-Year Tests.

But with the Day/Night Test against India expected to be a massive affair, state organizations like that of Brisbane, who missed out on hosting an India-Australia Test last summer is leaving no stone unturned in gaining the rights for the match, despite the officials being in favor of the iconic Adelaide Oval.

With CA ruling out the bidding process, it has certainly added fuel to the ruckus, and it will be interesting to see how the situation pans in the coming days. India will tour Australia for a four-match Test series next summer. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be a part of the ongoing ICC Test championship.