Decision on pink ball will depend on players' feedback - Thakur

The prospects of India hosting a day-night Test any time soon could be pushed back as BCCI president Anurag Thakur said that the board was in "no hurry" to play with the pink ball unless it was completely certain.

Speaking at the conclusion of the inaugural BCCI conclave in Dharamsala, Thakur said the board would await the feedback from players after the season-opening Duleep Trophy, which will be played under lights and with the pink ball for the first time.

"Let us wait for the players to decide on that," Thakur said at a media briefing after the BCCI's working committee meeting. "Let us take the feedback during the upcoming Duleep Trophy. There have been experiments going on all over the world with the pink ball. We are not in a hurry. We want to take a decision once the BCCI is sure that they want to go with the pink ball."

Last week, the first pink-ball match in India was played at Eden Gardens - the final of the Super League, a local tournament in Bengal organised by the Cricket Association of Bengal - from June 18. Mohun Bagan beat arch-rivals Bhowanipore Cricket Club in three days but, importantly, the experiment - an initiative by former India captain and CAB president Sourav Ganguly - proved to be a success, according to pundits present at the match.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo earlier this month, Thakur had expressed scepticism about day-night Test cricket working in India. He mentioned three specific issues that bothered him: "One, the conditions such as Indian pitches and the dew factor. Second, in tier-two cities, how can we expect crowds to come every day with play ending after 11pm five days in a row? Three, is this the only way to encourage Test cricket, or could there be some other way?"

A moderate crowd attended the Bagan-Bhowanipore contest, keeping in mind that it was a club match over the weekend. Crucially, there was no dew factor, as Ganguly had predicted on the eve of the match, although he had highlighted the fact that dew might be a deterrent if such a match were to be played from October onwards.

Most of the concerns that are usually expressed by players seemed to not bother players from Bagan and Bhowanipore. The pink Kookaburra maintained its shape, the seam did not wear off and players could sight the ball without too many problems.

India will have four countries visiting them to play 13 Tests between October and March in a home season that is being called 'India Cricket' by the BCCI. The general perception is that at least one of those Tests could be a day-night game. In fact, Thakur had said in April that India would play one day-night Test with the pink ball against New Zealand later this year.

New Zealand arrive in October to play a three-Test series, and speculation was that the pink-ball Test would be held in Kolkata. However, New Zealand Cricket rubbished such reports, saying it had received no communication from the BCCI.

Thakur, however, said on Friday that it was important not to get swayed by whether or not India would play a day-night Test soon. The more important fact, which he felt was not being highlighted, is the volume of Test cricket India play over the next five years. "One of the accusations against the BCCI was 'Oh, they are only T20-focussed.' In the last 30-40 years, this is going to be the first time we are going to play the largest number of Test matches, but that didn't find any headline anywhere - 13 Test matches at home, 46 Test matches in the next five years, 76 ODIS and only 21 T20Is."

Thakur revealed that he had also "secured" at least 20 home matches for India in the next eight-year FTP cycle, which starts from 2019. "So that revenues of the board and the state associations is secured and we are also going to fulfill our commitment towards other boards as we have to play a larger role in world cricket. So the BCCI understands the larger role we have to play. We will fulfill those commitments, but not at the cost of the Indian fan. The Indian fan deserves a defined cricket season, which is from October to March."