BCCI surprised by Ravi Shastri's U-turn to play Day Night Tests
Shastri iterated the lack of preparation for the matches as the reason for backing out.
India were previously scheduled to play a Day-Night Test match against the Windies during their tour to the sub-continent later this year. Thereafter, Virat Kohli’s men were set to take part in another Test under the floodlights against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, which has been the only venue thus far to host Day-Night Test cricket down under.
However, the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has affirmed that no such games can be played both against the Windies and Australia. The arrangements for the games were being made after consulting the team head coach Ravi Shastri and the recent developments have somewhat surprised the BCCI. Shastri iterated the lack of preparation for the matches as a reason for backing out.
A shock for the BCCI
Meanwhile, a senior official of the BCCI expressed his surprise over the reversal of the decision by the former Indian cricketer. “It is curious to see that the Indian coach was ready to experiment with day-night cricket with the pink ball in India about three months back but now the same decision making process makes him say that 12 to 18 months of practice would be required for the team.
There is no indication as to what the practice would be and what would be the logistics and time management surrounding that. One has to play pink – ball cricket to practice,” the official was quoted as saying by News18. Meanwhile, the official has also mentioned the probable timings of the matches and the role of the dew factor.
Moreover, they also plan to host the games in a Tier II city. “As far as day-night cricket goes it can be tried out as an experiment with a game starting at 12 and where the dew will play. Again, against a team like the West Indies, it has to be played in a Tier-II city without a doubt. To get in the crowds, it doesn’t matter if it’s a day game or day-night game. What’s important is a Tier-II city,” the official added.
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