India refuse to play day-night Test in Adelaide

The Adelaide Test between Australia and India this summer will be played during the day after the tourists failed to agree to play the match under lights.

Cricket Australia had lobbied the powerful BCCI to play a day-night Test at Adelaide Oval, which has hosted pink-ball cricket for the past three seasons.

The current ICC Playing Conditions stipulate that a home nation can only host a day-night Test match "with the agreement of the Visiting Board" and India have confirmed that they want the match played with a traditional red ball.

India are one of only two current Test-playing nations to have avoided playing pink-ball cricket at the international level, with Bangladesh the other.

In contrast, Australia have played four pink-ball Tests and won all of them, including the historic first game against New Zealand in Adelaide in 2015.

The suspension of Steve Smith and David Warner means the Aussies will be below full strength this summer and India, sensing a chance for their first Test series win in Australia, have decided the variable of a pink-ball game would give the hosts an advantage.

"We can confirm that we have received advice from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that it is not prepared to participate in a proposed Day-Night Test in Adelaide this summer," a CA spokesperson said.

"Whilst we appreciate some Adelaide fans may be disappointed, we know how popular the Adelaide Test is and look forward to hosting India there in December.

"We are committed to hosting at least one Day-Night Test each home summer as part of our continued focus to grow Test cricket, and we are excited about the Day-Night Test against Sri Lanka at the Gabba in January."

India experimented with pink-ball cricket in its Duleep Trophy domestic championship in 2016 but administrators and top players are wary about playing at international level.

India will tour Australia from November 21 to January 19 with four Tests, three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day games on the schedule.

Speaking last month Cricket Australia CEO James Sutherland said he hoped the introduction of the World Test Championship next year, a new-look Test league that will be played over a cycle of two years and culminate in a one-off final, will bring with it greater freedom for home boards to schedule day-night matches.

"I think personally the home country should have the right to schedule matches as it sees fit and start them at whatever time of day they want," Sutherland told SEN.

"The Adelaide Test match in the day-night format has been a huge success. It’s been a great story in terms of attendances, crowds and atmosphere but also television audiences. It's also the way of the future.

"India may or may not come around to that idea for this tour but I still believe it's the way of the future. I think everyone in world cricket knows that.

"It hasn't really got to a stage where there's agreement or regulation around the table at ICC level for the home countries to be able to schedule that.

"We're hoping there will be some sort of regulation in there (the Test Championship) that will allow home teams to fixture at least one day-night Test match."