Will India play two day-night Tests when they tour Australia next year? Cricket Australia would like them to, but BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has indicated that two pink-ball Tests in a four-Test series might be "a bit too much".
Ganguly was one of the major driving forces behind India playing their maiden day-night Test last month, against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens. He has been a vocal advocate for day-night games as a means to popularise Test cricket and bring more spectators to grounds. But he is less keen on the idea of India playing two pink-ball Tests on their 2020-21 tour of Australia.
"Whether India go to play two day-night Tests in Australia is not assured," Ganguly said at the India Today Conclave in Kolkata. "Two out of four would be a bit too much with the pink ball. We will assess it. I read it in the newspapers this morning. I haven't heard anything from the Australian cricket board. We will deal with it as it comes."
A CA delegation led by its chairman Earl Eddings is set to meet Ganguly on the sidelines of Australia's limited-overs tour of India in January, and discuss, among other things, the possibility of India playing two day-night Tests in Australia in 2020-21.
Negotiations have not yet begun, but "we'll mention that when we're over there in January talking during the one-day series," Eddings told ESPNcricinfo. "As you build that trust and build that relationship you have that chat.
"Pleasingly, they've played their first day-night Test and won easily. Now they've got through that it might give them the right build-up to it over here. I've got no doubt they'll consider playing one and maybe even more day-night Test matches. But that's down the track to when we catch up with them in January."