BCCI hasn’t really talked about the possibility of holding a day-night Test against England this winter but they have kept the option open-ended. If BCCI manages to host the day-night extravaganza, Mumbai could be in the running for the game. Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has been told to standby for further confirmation.
On Friday, the BCCI announced the schedule of five Tests, three ODIs and three Twenty20 Internationals the Englishmen are expected to play in India but the board remained silent on the day-night Test. There are efforts to host at least one Test under lights this winter.
Before Indian cricket takes a plunge into the Pink Revolution, the BCCI wants to test its preparedness over the pink ball game and it will be known only after the Duleep Trophy which BCCI wants to hold during late August and the first half of September. “At this stage, we are not confident if we can pull off a daylight Test. We can know about it only after the Duleep Trophy,” a BCCI member said. The Duleep Trophy has to be finished by September 15.
Rajkot, Vizag, Mohali, Mumbai, and Chennai will host the five Tests and Mumbai and Chennai could be possible venues for a pink ball Test if the plans materialise at all. “A Test in December will give us three months to prepare but we can’t say anything at this stage,” the member said.
As for Duleep Trophy, the BCCI wants all top players in the country to take part. Now that the mini-IPL is most likely not happening, all the Test players, currently in the West Indies, will be available for the tournament, the dates, and venue of which are believed to be announced sometime next week.
At this stage, there is no decision which zone will host the tournament but a couple of centres in the South and one in the central zone are in contention. We should know in a week’s time.
The tournament, which was scrapped by the board last year to concentrate more on Twenty20 cricket, has been revived this year after it was decided that pink ball would be used in this tournament with a new four-team format, instead of five zonal teams. If the tournament is played on a knockout basis, it would still take almost 13 days to complete.
As the cricket enthusiasts are excited to welcome the new innovation, several cricketers also getting ready to taste this beautiful game under a whole new, different look, as they also look to prepare in time, understand it, and adapt to changes and the new challenge as soon as possible.