Day-night Test being explored by BCCI, says Saba Karim

Among the top eight Test nations, only India and Sri Lanka are yet to stage a day-night Test.

What's the news?

Former India wicktkeeper-batsman Saba Karim, who is now serving as the General Manager for cricket operations in the BCCI, has said that the board is exploring the possibility of hosting a day-night Test soon. In an interview to Cricbuzz, the administrator said, “We are exploring the possibility. There is a strong reason why we should have day/night Tests. If you look at it from a global perspective, then there are other nations who have gone ahead and played day/night Tests with some excellent results.

In case you didn't know..

Among the top eight Test nations, only India and Sri Lanka are yet to stage a day-night Test ever since the first one was played between Australia and New Zealand in November 2015. Since then, Australia have hosted three other day-night Test matches, including an Ashes Test; England and South Africa have staged one each; Pakistan have also conducted floodlit Tests in the UAE twice; and New Zealand and West Indies are about to join the queue this year.

However, the BCCI has only conducted trials with the pink ball in domestic cricket and yet are to make the national side play a day-night Test despite almost all other countries having already explored the format.

The heart of the matter

Despite day-night Test matches across the world drawing record crowds, the BCCI's reluctancy to host one themselves has been surprising. And Karim, 50, agrees that the latest experiment with the longest format has indeed brought rich results. “They drew a large attendance. The ICC I believe has come up with a statement that all of us need to sit together to work out a system to save Test cricket. One of the suggestions was to have Day-Night Tests,” Karim, who has also been a selector of the senior team, said.

What's next?

West Indies are scheduled to tour India for 2 Tests this October and it is for that series that the BCCI is targeting hosting a day-night fixture. Also, with Australia nearly making it a norm to conduct at least one such match every home summer, it will take some efforts from Cricket Australia to convince the BCCI for playing a day-night Test.

Author's Take

The case with the BCCI with regards to hosting a flood-lit Test match has been on similar lines as that of the board's stand about the DRS initially – they are taking their own time to approve of it while the rest of the world is already enjoying its benefits. As a powerhouse of international cricket, the BCCI should rather take the initiative of first staging such fixtures to ensure that it leads the way for others.