India hosted its first-ever day-night Test match in November 2019 against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata. India has since hosted three such games on home soil, but the BCCI is not interested in organizing more.
Despite the excitement surrounding these matches, it has been over two years since India last hosted a Test under lights, even as the team prepares for a pink-ball Test during their tour of Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year.
The BCCI secretary Jay Shah explained why India is not hosting too many day-night Tests. It was noted by Shah that most pink-ball games played in the country usually end within 2-3 days which questions the conventional five-day format and also spoils the competition balance between teams.
“You buy a ticket for a five-day match, but the game ends in 2-3 days…There is no refund. I am slightly emotional about this,” Shah said to the Times of India.
India’s first pink-ball Test ended within three days, as the Indian team defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs under Virat Kohli’s captaincy. Around a year later, India hosted another day-night Test in which India defeated England in just two days. This two-day short game raised the eyebrows of cricket fans around the globe. The match was notorious for its unusually low scores, where India’s first innings total was 145 (highest).
The trend of swift victories continued in India’s third pink-ball encounter at home, where they comfortably defeated Sri Lanka by 238 runs. This match, however, was the last time India hosted a day-night Test on home soil.
Shah also revealed that the ICC had approached the BCCI to host the women’s T20 World Cup (scheduled for October-November later this year). Bangladesh went through political turmoil earlier this month and remains in a state of unrest with constant protests. However, the BCCI denied the request.
“Next year, we’ll host the 50-overs women’s World Cup. We do not want to give any signal that we want to host consecutive World Cups,” Shah said.
