India to host New Zealand in their first day-night Test this year

[JANASENA]

New Zealand are scheduled to tour India in October for three Tests and five ODIs. It's not yet clear which venue will get to host the historic day-night Test.

In order to raise the ever dwindling number of spectators in the stadium, the BCCI is all set to host its first-ever day/night cricket Test with pink ball when New Zealand tour India later this year for three Tests and five one-day internationals.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to join a rare league of nations later this tear. India will host New Zealand in a day-night Test match to be played with a pink ball.

New Zealand had last year played the first ever day-night Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval. The Aussies will also host Pakistan in another day-night Test in Brisbane this December.

The BCCI is keen to get more people into the stadium after poor attendance in the last few Test series held at home. The last of those was a four-Test contest against South Africa, which India won 3-1 to reclaim the top spot in the ICC rankings.

"We have decided that we will play one day-night Test match with pink ball against New Zealand later this year. Before that Duleep Trophy will act as a dress rehearsal for the day-night Test match," BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur told a select gathering of mediapersons at the BCCI's headquarters on Thursday.

Thakur said that the main objective of the Duleep Trophy will be to check how the pink kookaburra behaves under the light in sub-continental conditions.