The West Indies Cricket Board has told the BCCI that it’s ready to play a day/night Test provided its team gets a three-day practice match under lights.
The Windies will play two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is in October-November and Australia will play five ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals in February-March 2019.
The home internationals this season will start with the inaugural one off Test against Afghanistan in Bangalore from June 14 to 18. In all India will be engaged in 18 international matches.
The BCCI’s tour, programme and fixtures committee which met here on Saturday took a unanimous decision to award the first Test against the West Indies to Rajkot.
“All members felt that Rajkot should be a day/night Test starting in the first week of October,” said a member.
The BCCI Operations Team is trying to schedule the pink-ball three-day warm up at either the Wankhede Stadium or at the Brabourne Stadium, Cricket Club India.
Sourav Ganguly, chairman, Technical Committee, BCCI has expressed readiness to host the warm up game, but the Operations team is looking at Wankhede or CCI.
The TPF committee has been has sent the proposed programme to the CoA for approval.
The Test matches against the West Indies have been proposed to be played in Rajkot and Hyderabad, five ODIs in Mumbai, Indore, Guwahati, Pune and Thiruvananthapuram and three Twenty20 internationals in Chennai, Uttar Pradesh and Kolkata.
The five ODI series against Australia in February-March 2019 is scheduled in Mohali, Delhi, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ranchi and two Twenty20 internationals in Bangalore and Visakhapatnam.
The BCCI hopes to finalise and announce the dates on Monday so that all the centres can prepare well and open ticket sales in advance.
No D-N Test down under
India is unlikely to play a day-night Test during the tour of Australia set to start in November.
The rationale behind this decision is that the team will have a better chance of winning the Test series there if the matches played in day.
India was keen on playing the five-match ODI series there before the Tests, but it would probably get to play three Twenty20 Internationals leading to the Tests.
