The 1st ever Day-night Test was played as early as 2015. Ever since, 8 Test-playing nations have had a taste of Pink-ball cricket with Australia leading the charge by featuring in 5 of the 11 matches so far.
After saying ‘no’ to what is being seen as one of the most important innovations in modern-day cricket for nearly 4 years, India are gearing up to play their 1st ever Day-night Test from Friday in Kolkata.
Eden Gardens will be hosting Bangladesh who are also gearing up to play a Test match under light for the 1st time.
India had been reluctant to be a part of the Pink ball experiment. Talks of the BCCI hosting New Zealand for a Day-night Test as early as 2016 surfaced but nothing came into fruition until Sourav Ganguly took over as the head of the world’s richest cricket body.
Sourav Ganguly had played a big role in infusing Pink ball cricket into the system. Under his tenure as Cricket Association of Bengal President, the 1st ever Pink ball match was played in India — Bengal Super League final in 2016.
A big believer in the future of Pink ball cricket, Ganguly advocated the usage of pink balls in Duleep Trophy tournaments during his tenure as a Cricket Advisory Committee member. The Duleep Trophy was played with the Pink ball for 3 seasons from 2016 before it went back to red ball earlier this year.
‘Selfish’ India say no to Adelaide fixture
India have turned down quite a few requests from the likes of Australia and South Africa to feature in Pink ball Tests.
Source: Indiatoday