India’s first-ever Test match played under lights will be at Adelaide Oval if skipper Virat Kohli gets his way
Indian skipper Virat Kohli is understood to have preferenced Adelaide Oval as the venue at which his side will play its first-ever day-night Test match, in what would be a huge coup for cricket in South Australia.
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Adelaide remains frontrunner to host Australia’s inaugural day-night Test against India as cricket’s superpower embraces the pink ball under skipper Virat Kohli.
Indian media reports assert all powerful Kohli has endorsed Adelaide as the venue India will end its pink-ball blockade in Australia after starting its four-Test tour in Brisbane next summer.
The India Cricket Board’s (BCCI) Apex Council met in New Delhi last Sunday and is understood to have determined to play a day-night Test in Adelaide on the provision that two practice matches are incorporated into the Border-Gavaskar tour.
However, Cricket Australia and South Australian Cricket Association told The Advertiser no schedule decision had been agreed with the BCCI.
CA chief executive Kevin Roberts and chairman Earl Eddings were hosted by India counterparts Sourav Ganguly and Jay Shah during last month’s one-day series on the subcontinent.
CA maintains it is still in ‘planning mode’ with the BCCI while any suggestion of a fixed schedule is premature.
CA usually announces its summer fixture allocations in March/April.
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Adelaide holds no fears for India or Kohli having won two of its last five Tests at the venue. Master batsman Kohli has three tons from three Tests in the City of Churches, making Adelaide a hospitable venue to encounter the pink ball.
Australia, though, has triumphed across all day-night Tests in Adelaide against New Zealand, South Africa, England and Pakistan.
Adelaide hosting a pink ball clash would mean Perth is allocated a one-off Test between Australia and Afghanistan in November.
Adelaide Strikers and Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan told The Advertiser it was his fledgling Test nation’s preference to play a Test in Adelaide, but SACA’s business model is built around hosting frontline sides.
Adelaide’s record of strong attendances – particularly for day-night Tests – arms SACA with a watertight case to host India.
Adelaide has attracted record audiences for day-night Tests against New Zealand, South Africa and England.
India hosted a historic day-night clash against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens last November as capacity crowds flocked back to Test cricket.
India – the last major cricket nation to play a day-night Test – has embraced change since Ganguly’s ascent as BCCI president.
Kohli described pink ball Tests as a novelty act in the past.
Ganguly has convinced Kohli of the need to make cricket accessible to the masses and prosper in the modern age.
“It’s become a very exciting feature of any Test series and we’re open to playing day-night Tests,” said Kohli last month.
Kohli resisted playing a day-night Test in Adelaide last visit due to insufficient experience against the pink ball.
Having won a watershed Test series in Australia Kohli is now working to the bigger picture.
India has programmed a day-night Test in Ahmedabad when England tours in February next year in a sign of its commitment to the innovative concept.