Cricket Australia (CA) is set to request the BCCI to agree for more than one Day/Night Test during India’s 2021 tour Down Under but Indian Board chief Sourav Ganguly on Friday said such a proposal would be a “bit too much”.
A CA delegation, led by its Chairman Earl Eddings, is expected to meet BCCI top brass during the three-match ODI series in India starting January 14 next year.
“As you build that trust and build that relationship you have that chat,” Eddings told ‘ESPNCricinfo’
“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,” he added.
However, Ganguly didn’t seem keen on the idea.
“I have not heard anything officially from Cricket Australia. Two out of four will be a bit too much...it can’t replace traditional Test matches. But we can have one Pink Test every series,” Ganguly said during the ‘India Today Conclave (East)’ in Kolkata.
CA Chief Executive Kevin Roberts, while talking to ABC Radio recently, also spoke about having more than one Day/Night Tests during what is meant to be a four-match Test series.
“...in my heart I’d say four from four, in my head we’d love to play one of the four as a day-night Test, he said.
Eddings said CA also wants the BCCI to consider adding one more Test to the traditional four-match series that the two countries play.
“Ideally we want to be playing five Tests against India, hopefully in the future we can do that as well,” he said.
India’s maiden Day/Night Test was a result of the initiative taken by Ganguly, one of the country’s most successful and charismatic former captains. He managed to convince Bangladesh for a Day/Night game within a week of taking over on October 23.
“The fact India are playing day-night Test cricket is a great thing. It shows that he cares about the game. We’ve exchanged letters, I’m going over there with some of our board members in early January for some of the ODIs where I hope to meet with the new BCCI administration,” Eddings said of Ganguly.
“I want to stress we’ve got a very strong relationship with India, there’s a lot of mutual respect there. While we have our differences because we’ve got different needs, the relationship is very strong,” he added.
Pant needs to deal with pressure, says Ganguly
Young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant should get used to hearing chants of “Dhoni, Dhoni” and figure his own mechanism to deal with the extreme pressure that comes with being an India cricketer, feels Ganguly.
The 22-year-old Pant has been under intense scrutiny for his underwhelming performances in white-ball cricket but has got the firm backing of both skipper Virat Kohli and his deputy Rohit Sharma.
Kohli on Thursday said Pant can’t be isolated to such an extent that he starts feeling nervous on the field and found it “disrespectful” that fans chanted Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s name when the youngster made mistakes during a recent home series.
“It’s good for him (Pant). He should get used to it. Let him hear it and let him find a way to succeed. He will be under pressure and let him go through it and figure out on his own,” Ganguly said during the ‘India Today Conclave (East)’ here on Friday.
Ganguly also refused to divulge the BCCI’s plans with regards to Dhoni’s much-speculated future. He said it will take 15 years of consistency for Rishabh Pant to be the next Dhoni.
“Everyday, you don’t get MS Dhoni. It will take Pant 15 years to achieve what MS has achieved,” he said.
“The BCCI can’t be thankful enough to MS for what he has done for Indian cricket. We will leave it at that. We are speaking to Virat, the selectors, that’s what it is. We will address (Dhoni future) as and when it comes,” he said.
Dhoni has been on a sabbatical since India’s semifinal exit from the ODI World Cup in July.
COMMents
SHARE