Sale of tickets dropped down after Team India's refusal to play day-night Test at Adelaide

Test cricket is the oldest but also the purest form of the game. To improve the conditions and increase the involvement of the fans in the longest format of the game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced the day-night Test matches, which have also increased the viewership drastically. India is the only major Test-playing nation that is yet to play a day-night fixture, whereas the other teams, Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the Windies have already played at least one day-night Test match.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has always been reluctant to play a day-night Test match for some unknown reasons. The Indian team will now be playing a four-match Test series in Australia, starting with the 1st Test match from December 6 at Adelaide. The South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) Chief Executive Keith Bradshaw stated that the sale of tickets for the match has gone down due to the Indian team’s refusal to play a day-night match.

Major impact on ticket sales

The Adelaide Oval which is the venue for the first Test match to be played between Australia and India has been hosting a lot of day-night Test matches for a while now and originally the upcoming Test match between India and Australia was decided to be a day-night affair but the BCCI wasn’t keen. Incidentally, the last day Test match to be played at the venue was also against India in 2014. Bradshaw mentioned that the interstate sales have gone down because it is a day Test match.

“It has been an issue, it has affected ticket sales. One of the characteristics that we have noticed is that we are quite down in interstate sales given it’s a day Test, not a day-night Test. There is definitely a day-night factor, without a doubt,” said Bradshaw as quoted by News.com.au.

The Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri stated in a meeting with the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) that the team management and the players require some more time in order to prepare themselves for the day-night fixtures. Bradshaw also mentioned that the fans have come in huge numbers for every day-night Test matches played in the past at the venue.

“The fans have absolutely voted with their feet in the last few years that we have had day-night Tests. We have been significantly up for attendances,” he added.

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