'I'm slightly emotional about this': Jay Shah reveals critical reason behind BCCI's reluctance to host day-night Tests

India last hosted a pink-ball Test in 2022, and will play in their fifth Test under lights later this year during the tour of Australia.

India hosted its first day-night Test match in November 2019, when it hosted Bangladesh at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Since then, India has held three such matches on home soil, yet the BCCI has shown a noticeable reluctance to schedule more.

Team India players during their day-night Test against Sri Lanka in 2022(BCCI)

Despite the excitement surrounding these matches, it has been over two years since India last hosted a Test under lights, even as the team prepares for a pink-ball Test during their tour of Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah shed light on the board's cautious approach towards hosting day-night Tests in India. Shah pointed out that the pink-ball Tests in the country have typically ended within 2-3 days, which undermines the traditional five-day format and the competitive balance of the matches.

“You buy a ticket for a five-day match, but the game ends in 2-3 days…There is no refund. I am slightly emotional about this,” Shah was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

India's first pink-ball Test ended within three days, as the home side defeated Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs under Virat Kohli's captaincy. Roughly over a year later, India hosted England for another day-night Test, which ended in just two days, raising eyebrows worldwide. The match was notorious for its unusually low scores, with India's first innings total of 145 being the highest, and the hosts ultimately thrashing England by 10 wickets.

The trend of swift victories continued in India's third pink-ball encounter at home, where they comfortably defeated Sri Lanka by 238 runs. This match, however, was the last time India hosted a day-night Test on home soil.

ICC offered India to host Women's T20 WC

Shah also revealed that the ICC had approached the BCCI to host the women's T20 World Cup (scheduled for October-November later this year). Bangladesh went through political turmoil earlier this month and remains in a state of unrest with constant protests. However, the BCCI denied the request.

“Next year, we’ll host the 50-overs women’s World Cup. We do not want to give any signal that we want to host consecutive World Cups,” Shah said.