The West Indies Cricket Board have given their approval to playing a day-night Test during their tour of India, which is slated to get underway in October later this year.
With the Men in Blue having never hosted or participated in a day-night Test so far, the proposed one against the West Indies could be the very first.
The BCCI had on Saturday named Rajkot and Hyderabad as the two possible venues for India’s maiden day-night affair, subject to the approval of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) which has been appointed by the Supreme Court to handle the day-to-day workings of the cricketing board.
According to a report by the Indian Express, West Indies chief Dave Cameron has responded positively to the BCCI’s proposal of turning one of the two scheduled Tests into a day-night affair.
Replying to BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary’s email, Cameron wrote: “As per our discussions we would gladly agree to a day/night Test Match being the first one. Additionally, we would require the warm up game to be under lights as well. Thanks much and look forward to finalizing the schedule.”
On Saturday, the BCCI had met to finalise India’s home itinerary for the upcoming season. India are scheduled to play only three Tests at home in the season, two against the West Indies and a historic one-off Test against Afghanistan.
During the meeting, Rajkot and Hyderabad were picked as the proposed hosts for the two Tests against the Caribbean side while Mumbai, Guwahati, Kochi, Indore and Pune have been chosen as the venues for the five ODIs. Kolkata, Chennai and Kanpur have been selected as the venues for the three T20Is to follow.
Afghanistan’s maiden Test after becoming an ICC full member will take place before West Indies tours India while the hosts are set to depart for Australia after completing their engagements against the Caribbean side.