'India to host day-night Test against New Zealand'

India is set to host a day-night Test during New Zealand's visit later this year. Anurag Thakur, the BCCI secretary, said on Thursday that the BCCI would use the pink Kookaburra ball for the Test match.

"We have decided that we will play one day-night Test match with pink ball against New Zealand later this year," Thakur said. "Before that, Duleep Trophy will act as a dress rehearsal for the day-night Test match."

There have been widespread concerns over the pink Kookaburra - particularly its durability and its visibility - and the Adelaide Test last November, the first ever to be played under floodlights, was played on a grassier-than-normal surface to ensure the ball lasted 80 overs. South Africa's players, including their Test captain AB de Villiers, have expressed their reluctance to play a day-night Test during their 2016-17 tour of Australia.

The pink ball is yet to be trialled in India, where dew could be a concern under lights, and Thakur said the Duleep Trophy would serve as a trial run before the Test.

While there might still be a concern regarding the pink ball, those concerns aren't going to be able to be addressed and fixed if teams aren't preparing to use it at least a few times each.

The day night games and the pink ball are new concepts, so they have to at least be given a chance to work.

[quote author=pwarbi link=topic=103884.msg690548#msg690548 date=1461318100]
While there might still be a concern regarding the pink ball, those concerns aren't going to be able to be addressed and fixed if teams aren't preparing to use it at least a few times each.

The day night games and the pink ball are new concepts, so they have to at least be given a chance to work.
[/quote]
They could be addressed if they were either introduced at the first-class level first (like Australia have done with the Sheffield Shield) or by utilizing the in warm up tour matches which generally are sparsely attended.

Personally, I would rather see all the kinks worked out at the first-class level first instead of by trial and error at a Test match which results in something farcical or manufactured.