The reason why India has opposed Day-Night Tests so far

Ever since the inception of Day-Night Tests, barring India and Bangladesh, all the major Test playing nation has played in the format. The first of such games was played way back in 2015 between New Zealand and Australia. Ever since 11 encounters have taken place thus far out of which all of them have produced results. However, India somehow has been pretty apprehensive over the innovation.

There has been a number of reasons behind the same. The visibility of the cherry has been an issue for the Indian players. Back in the 2016 edition of the Duleep Trophy, the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Kuldeep Yadav and Cheteshwar Pujara played pink-ball cricket. Many players said that there wasn’t much balance between willow and ball.

The pink cherry didn’t help the fast bowlers one bit. There’s problem with the type of balls used as well. In India, SG balls are used for Tests. The one used for the Duleep Trophy game was Kookaburra. There’s an alternative to use the Kookaburra for Test cricket.

The feedback so far has been very positive, says owner of SG

But using the SG under the lights mean risking something, untested in such conditions. The maker of SG balls has expressed confidence that they can be used, albeit the only domestic trials they have undergone are games held in Meerut.

“Yes, we are ready. See, pink-ball technology is very similar to the white-ball technology. And we have been making white balls for decades now. The feedback so far has been very positive. I don’t see any difference between the white and the pink ball. So, if need be, we will be ready with the pink ball, if that is required,” Paras Anand, the owner of Sanspareils Greenlands (SG) told Indian Express.

In the meantime, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) tried their hearts out to convince Bangladesh to play a day-night Test later this month. The match is scheduled to be held from November 22-26 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Previously Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, has sounded confident that Bangladesh will agree to play the encounter. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has accepted the offer and both India and Bangladesh will be playing their first ever day-night Test.