Indian cricket not keen to host pink ball Tests anymore

Indian cricket is not too keen to host pink ball Tests anymore. The secretary of the Indian cricket board confirmed the same during his press conference recently. Jay Shah claimed that the Indian audience does not have an interest in watching pink-ball Tests. The secretary of Indian cricket felt that there was a need for the fans to evolve to conduct the special Day/Night (D/N) Tests. 

"We will have to increase the amount of interest in the public for the pink-ball Test," said Shah in the press conference. The argument of Shah was that all the pink ball Tests involving India have ended in about two or three days. Factually, Shah is correct, as all the matches involving India in D/N Tests have lasted for a maximum of three days. While there are many reasons for it, matches do not tend to last longer in India. 

"If you recall the (pink-ball) Tests ended in two-three days. Everyone wants to watch a Test match lasting four-five days. Once they get more used to it, we will do more pink-ball Tests," added Shah. He felt that the Indian audience need to get used to the duration of the D/N Tests. Hence, Jay felt that there is no need to hurry in terms of hosting the D/N matches. 

'We were in talks with England, but we will do it gradually' - Jay Shah

Jay added that India was set to play the pink ball Test against England in 2024. However, the idea was scrapped due to the duration of these Test matches. "Last time it was done in Australia, no one has done it since then. We were in talks with England, but we will do it gradually," Shah concluded. The news might disappoint many fans who were set to embrace the interesting format.

India has hosted three D/N Test matches till now. In 2019, India hosted a D/N Test for the first time. In the match, India overcame Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. In 2021, India defeated England at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. In 2022, India defeated Sri Lanka at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.