India agrees to play day-night test in Australia

Tuesday, 18 February 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly arrives to file his nomination for the president's post of BCCI (Board Of Control for Cricket in India) at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai, India - Reuters

NEW DELHI (Reuters): India have agreed to play a day-night test in Australia during the team’s 2020-21 tour, board president Sourav Ganguly has said.

India declined Australia’s offer to play a day-night test during their most recent tour Down Under in 2018/19 and were the last major cricket-playing country to play a pink-ball match when they hosted Bangladesh in Kolkata in November.

“A formal announcement will come soon but we have decided to play a day-night test in Australia,” former captain Ganguly told Monday’s edition of the Times of India newspaper.

“We will also play one against England at home next February. Day-night tests will be a regular feature from now on.”

Ganguly and Cricket Australia (CA) were not immediately available for comment.

CA had originally suggested playing two day-night tests during the tour but Ganguly had rejected that idea in December.

Ganguly, who took the reins of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last October, has said he wanted India to play at least one day-night test in every series.

Officials view day-night tests as having the potential to reverse the dwindling attendances seen in some venues as Twenty20 cricket continues to grow in popularity around the world. CA is expected to announce the series schedule next month but media reports both in India and Australia point to Brisbane or Adelaide, which hosted the first pink-ball test in 2015, as being the venue for the day-night test against India.