BCCI confirms that India will play only red-ball Tests in their Australia tour
The BCCI has officially stated that India will play only red-ball Tests in their tour of Australia towards the end of 2018. Cricket Australia earlier demanded to play a pink-ball Test in Adelaide from December 6-10, but this plan was shut down by the BCCI who disagreed to play Day/night Tests.
Cricket Australia Chief Executive James Sutherland had recently statedĀ CA's demand for a pink-ball Test in India's upcoming tour of Australia, enforcing the idea that the home nation must be given the freedom to choose the conditions for the Tests. This has been the conventional method for all touring teams in the last two years and CA is in full support of the Day/night Test format.
However, the BCCI disagreed to this condition and has officially informed CA that India will only play red-ball Tests as per tradition on their tour. Chief coach Ravi Shastri intimated the Committee of Administrators (CoA) that the team would require 18 months of preparation for a Day/night Test and that rules out the option of Day/night Tests for India. This information was intimated to Sutherland through acting secretary of the BCCI, Amitabh Chaudhary.
"I am directed to say by the Committee of Administrators that India would begin to play in the format only in about a year's time. Under the circumstances, I regret to say that the proposed D/N Test cannot be played and all Tests will have to have the conventional structure," Chaudhary wrote in his e-mail to Sutherland.
Sutherland had stated that India's hesitance to play a pink-ball Test was because of their desire to win the series. He further added that Australia had not lost a single Test back at home ground. However, the fact of the matter is that Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay are the only Indians to have played Day/night matches, during the Duleep Trophy 2016-17.